Worse Things
by Killer Kueen
Summary: Casey's niece has come to stay for the summer, but under what circumstances? What new evil has followed her?
1. Prologue

The gates, cold and rusted in the October air, creak open with a moan of protest. I slip through the gap. I look around at the slabs of stone. Some are unkempt; protruding from the ground, seemingly held up by the weeds that cling so desperately to their feet. Most however, are clean and well cared for. These are the ones that haven't been forgotten.

I walk through the silent night, towards my destination.

I know I shouldn't be here. The wrong kinds of people know I visit this place regularly. But where else can I go? I'm tired of only hurting the people who want to help me. Besides.

You can't hurt the dead.

Finally I reach the cold marble that serves as a marker. I press my hand firmly to the words carved in the stone. _David Jacob Jones_.

The air smells crisp, fresh.

The familiar feeling of being able to breathe that crisp, fresh air returns.

"Hey, Dad," I whisper.


	2. Chapter One

Emily had suspicions as to whether or not her uncle had remembered she was coming. There were clues, alright. First of all, she had promised her step-dad that she would be there by mid-mourning. Emily arrived at her uncle's apartment door mid-afternoon, and he sure seemed surprised. The two of them than spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out the spare bedroom that was to become hers, all the while Casey was walking in a sort of daze.

The biggest clue of all was the first words he said to her. He looked his niece right in the eye and said, "I forgot you were coming." Casey never was one for subtly.

She found it extremely odd, this whole forgetting business. You would think having your niece suddenly forced on you would be something worth remembering. Sentimentality was another thing Casey was never really big on.

He seemed smaller than the last time she had seen him, even though he stood over six feet tall. It must have been the growth spurt she experienced at the end of her ninth grade year, so she herself stood at about 5'9". His hair was the same however; long and black. In comparison, Emily had short curly hair which touched just below her chin. Her eyes were a cerulean blue, while Casey's were such a dark brown, they were almost black.

It had been almost four years since they had last seen each other. Casey's brother, David, had died during an attempted robbery. Relationships have been strained ever since. So here Emily was, after four years of not being in touch with her uncle, actually living with the guy.

It had taken several hours to clear out her new room (Casey seriously needed to learn a thing or two about organization). It wasn't until about 6:30 until she finally started unpacking.

Emily put her books on the shelf Casey had given her. Her cloths went in the drawers of her new dresser. Over the head board of her bed she taped a picture. Next, the laptop was set up and placed on the nightstand, next to a lamp.

On her move to New York, she had taken with her three companions. Her favorite was a stuffed tiger with a round belly and large, yellow eyes. He was big, and he was old. She loved him just the same, and she never traveled without Willie by her side. The second was a book of poems her step-brother had given her for Christmas a couple years ago. When Emily was in one of her moods, reading through the glossy pages helped calm her down.

The last was one of Emily's most valuable possessions: A glass flower hanging from a simple silver chain. It had been a birthday present from her father. Since he had died, she had taken to wearing the necklace all the time, save for when she was in the shower or sleeping.

"Emily, are you done unpacking yet?" Casey yelled from the kitchen. "I wanna order a pizza."

She rolls her eyes. "Than order a pizza. I'll be done unpacking when I'm done unpacking." She yells back, as she removes her CD collection from her suit case.

"What toppings do you want?"

"I don't care, Casey. Surprise me."

"I can do that." She imagines him reaching for the phone, calling some delivery guy.

Emily glances at her watch. It tells her it's a little after 7:30. She decides she's thirsty, and heads to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As she walks through the hall, she notices Casey has migrated to the living room, and has made himself comfortable on the couch watching a hockey game. "Pizza'll be here in about half an hour," he says without looking away from the TV.

Emily hears, but she doesn't answer. Instead, she goes into the kitchen to get her glass of water. The sight that meets her in the kitchen should surprise her, but it doesn't. Empty pizza boxes and Chinese take-out cartons line the counters, and dirty dishes fill the sink. You can't see the table. Old newspapers, dirty napkins, magazines and catalogs block it from view.

Emily sighs loudly. Well, he _is_ a bachelor.

She starts hunting for a new glass while mentally promising to clean this mess up first thing tomorrow. The girl finds her glass and than finds a clean place on the counter to lean against while surveying the damage.

The apartment as a whole was by no means clean, but the kitchen was definitely worse for wear. She sips her water. _How can he stand it?_ she thinks.

Suddenly, the window opens up. Emily turns her head to look. She doesn't scream (she believes screaming should be used only when appropriate. Like when you're cornered and can't think of anything else sensible to do, or when you're on a roller coaster. Since neither happened to be the case, Emily didn't make a sound). A bulky figure jumps through the opening. She blinks, noticing it has a shell. When the figure stands up straight, she notices it's green.

Emily screams.

~*~

Casey is watching the game. He hears his niece walk by, so he tells her the pizza'll be here eventually. She doesn't answer, and Casey smiles.

He was afraid Emily had changed, but she hadn't. She was still the closed off little girl his brother had raised. As surprised as he was when her mother called him up to ask if she could stay with him, he had been happy. Casey always had a soft spot for his only niece.

A scream from the kitchen tears his gaze from the screen. He narrows his eyes. It was more of a squeal, really. A shriek of surprise, even. "Shit," he mutters. In all the excitement, he had completely forgotten his plans with Raphael.

He takes a deep breath, and heads towards the kitchen.

~*~

At first, they just stare at each other. There's a mixture of disbelief, surprise and curiosity on her face. There's only mild annoyance on his.

"Who are you?" he asks rudely.

"Who am I?! Who are you? What are you?" Emily asks, still in a state of shock.

"What does it look like I am?" The questions only seem to have annoyed him further. "I'm a giant turtle." He glares at her. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"Stop repeating everything I say!" he yells at her.

"Than stop asking me stupid questions!" she yells right back. Than something seems to register. "A turtle," she says almost thoughtfully. "A giant, talking turtle."

He narrows his eyes. The turtle looks downright dangerous. He opens his mouth – probably to insult her, or rant about her acting stupid, but Casey clears his throat. Neither of them had realized he had walked in.

"There's a little change of plans tonight, I'm afraid." He says nervously.

"Casey, who the hell is this?" the turtle asks, still pissed.

Casey looks at her. "Uh, she's my niece."

"Your niece? Since when do you have a niece?"

Casey seems to think about it. "Emily," he says. "How old are you?"

The look on her face is replaced with one to match the turtle's. "I don't think he was talking literally, Casey."

Casey looks at her for a second than turns to his best friend. "I think she's about seventeen, but I could be wrong…"

Than Emily looks from her uncle to the foul - tempered turtle in front of her, and back again. Annoyance is replaced by a look of contemplation, soon replaced by hesitant acceptance. She shakes her head. "I'm going to bed, Casey. I'll see you in the mourning," she says, turning to leave.

Casey looks at the clock above the stove. "But it's not even eight-o-clock yet. The pizza isn't here."

"I'm going to bed," she repeats. Emily stalks to the living room. The window is open, and three more turtles are sitting on the coach. They turn to look at her. She just pinches the bridge of her nose. "Great," she mutters, "more turtles." Without another word, she turns to her bedroom. Everyone in the apartment can hear the satisfying slam of her door.

~*~


	3. Chapter Two

Emily storms out of Casey's kitchen. She looks tentative and uncomfortable. When she sees the other turtles in the living room, a look of annoyance crosses her face. Leo hears her mutter something under her breath, and watches as she turns and leaves. When he hears a door slam, he looks at his brother, Donnie.

"Who was that?" he asks.

Donnie shrugs. "Haven't got a clue."

"Did Casey and April get into another fight? Maybe he just got a new girlfriend," suggested Mikey.

"I don't think even Casey would date a girl that young," says Leo, rolling his eyes.

"You're right," says Mikey grinning. "They're not legal."

Donnie looks like he's about to say something, but decided against it. Raph's coming up behind his younger brother anyway.

"She's his niece, ya' moron," he says as he hits Mikey in the back of the head.

"You're niece, Casey?" asks Leo.

Casey nods. "She's spending the summer with me."

"It's already in the middle of July. If she was spending the summer with you, wouldn't she have come at the beginning of June?" points out Donnie.

"So she's spending the rest of the summer with me."

"When was all this determined?" asks Mikey, rubbing the back of his head.

"About two weeks ago."

"And ya' didn't think to tell us?" asks Raph.

"Well," Casey looks sheepish. "It kinda slipped my mind."

"Some uncle you are," Raph shakes his head.

"What's her name?" Mikey again.

"Emily." Casey looks uncomfortable all of a sudden. "We aren't that close, you know? Her mom doesn't like me much. After Emily's dad died, they moved down south. I didn't hear from them until I got that call a couple weeks ago."

"Just out of no where?" Leo asks, looking confused. "So Emily's dad is your brother?" Casey nods. "When did he die?"

"About four years ago," he answers. Than he thinks for a moment. "Helen sounded really flustered on the phone. She practically begged me to take Emily." He smiles. "It's been years since I've seen her. I just couldn't say no."

"And than you forget all about it?" Raph smirks. "Smooth."

"Hey!" Casey says defensively. "Things came up."

"Like what?"

"Okay, you two," Leo says, cutting in. "We should get going, it's getting late."

"Why don't you guys just stay the night? I'd like Emily to get to know you a little better. It could be just what she needs." Casey pauses. "If you don't mind just sleeping out here, that is."

"Like a sleepover?" asks Mikey. "Will there be popcorn and movies, and-" There's a knock at the door, interrupting him.

Casey answers it, pays for the pizza he almost forgot was coming, and walks back to where the guys are standing. "And pizza!" says Mikey excitedly.

"Sure, if you want," says Casey, handing the boxes to the turtle. "Maybe we could get Emily to submerge."

"Can we Leo? Please?" asked Mikey, turning his baby blue eyes to look at his eldest brother.

"Oh, all right. I'll call Master Splinter to make sure it's okay." He rolls his eyes at him.

"I'll go make popcorn," suggests Casey. "Why don't you guys pick out a movie?"

Casey went to the kitchen to make the popcorn. Donnie followed him to get plates for the pizza, glasses for the soda and beer (which was always stocked in Casey's fridge) and bowls. Mikey and Raph argued over what movie they should watch while Leo called their father.

And for all the noise they were making in the living room, she didn't come out.

In fact, Emily stayed locked in her room for the rest of the night. She read her books and listened to her music, totally oblivious to the commotion going on in the room twenty feet from where she lie on her bed.

~*~

Emily woke up with a headache. She groaned and rolled over, twisting in her sheets to glance at her alarm clock. The red numbers told her it was 11:42. She debates whether or not to get up.

Her head hurts, and the bed's nice and warm. She doesn't want to move.

But her head hurts. It'll keep her awake, and she'll be uncomfortable.

She debates while staring at the clock, watching the numbers change to 11:43. Than to 11:44.

Emily decides to get up.

She drags herself out of bed, changes into a pair of shorts and a tank top. She heads straight to the bathroom and acquaints herself with Casey's medicine cabinet. As soon as she locates the Advil, she swallows three, chasing them down with a gulp of water.

She walks into the living room and is met by a mess of blankets and pillows.

They didn't leave. The turtles are still there.

She shakes her head. Pizza boxes and pop cans lie astray. Dirty dishes are piled on a coffee table near the coach. She think she sees a couple beer bottles. Emily's just happy it's no where near as bad as the kitchen.

And speaking of the kitchen…

She walks into the room, looking for something to quiet her aching stomach, but she stops short. One of them seems to have gotten up, and he made breakfast.

He turns when he hears her enter. This one is wearing an orange head band and pads. He has some sort of weapon in his belt, but Emily can't recall the name of it. She wonders vaguely if the others wear the same thing.

"Good morning," he says brightly. "I made pancakes." He waves to the stove, where a pancake is sitting in the pan, already turning golden brown.

"Is it a good morning?" she says sarcastically. "I didn't notice." She clears a spot at the table and sits down.

The turtle smiles. "Not a morning person, are you?" He grabs a plate that Emily hadn't seen, already full of ready-to-eat pancakes, and sets it down in front of her.

"I'm not much of a breakfast person either." This wasn't a lie. She usually skipped eating and grabbed something midday.

"Fine," he says, glancing at the clock. "Just call it lunch."

She looks at the turtle, shaking her head. "Maybe later."

He smiles sheepishly. "They aren't poisoned, you know."

"What time did you guys go to bed last night, anyway?" she inquires.

"Late. Waaaay past midnight. Although I am surprised your up so late. Didn't you go bed early?"

"I'm not a mourning person, remember?"

The turtle smiles. "So, what are your plans for the day?"

Emily thinks for a moment, and makes a decision. "Could you tell Casey I'm going out?" she stands up, slinks past the figures asleep on the floor and puts on her flip flops, which are waiting by the door. She slips out without another word.

"Sure thing," the turtle says softly from the kitchen. He's not even sure if she heard him.

~*~


	4. Chapter Three

Emily's stomach is growling, but she ignores it. She has more important things to worry about. Not getting lost would be at the top of this particular list.

It had taken Emily an hour to find the cemetery the day before, and another one to find her father in the sea of stone heads. Even though she hadn't meant to, she had spent _another _hour at her dad's grave. When she finally felt ready to face Casey, she got lost on the way. Her mother had given her directions and an address of course, but it had been four years since Emily had set foot in New York. It didn't help that she had a bad memory. It did help that Casey had forgotten she was coming.

So there Emily was, wondering around New York with a giant suit case. After leaving the cemetery, she spent two hours looking for Casey's apartment. She wasn't very happy to find that her uncle lived only three blocks from the graveyard. _Three blocks._

She wasn't very amused. Now, however, she was rather relieved. Grateful, even. It would make the visits she had promised so much easier to keep.

After a couple minutes, she reaches the rusted gates. The day is a typical summer day in New York: the warmth clinging to the skin like static, the smog that filling the lungs every time you take a breath. She had missed this.

"Good mourning, Dad." She says, plopping herself down in front of the grave. "Or maybe it's afternoon. Yeah, it's probably afternoon." She looks around at her surroundings.

"Casey is just as empty-headed as I remember, but it was nice to see him. You should've seen his face when I showed up at his door. God, it was priceless.

"But it's weird, Dad. He has these friends. They're giant turtles. I know what you're thinking, but it's true." She sighs. She came here to talk, and it's easier to do than she thought it'd be. "Saying it out loud makes them more real, in a way. Anyway, no matter how weird this sounds, I think they aren't…how can I put this…a threat…No; I don't think they mean harm to anyone. I mean, that first one I met was a pain in the ass, but Casey seems to trust them."

She brushes some stray dirt from the bottom of the stone. "Casey has always had good judgment. I remember you telling me once that he was a vigilante. I think he's qualified to tell who's a good guy and who's not."

Emily draws her hand back. She reads the name on the grave over and over while she thinks of this mourning. The golden brown pancakes, the goofy smile that awaited her as she walked into the kitchen.

"Besides, I know there are worse things in this world than giant turtles with good intentions." She looks around again. The back of her neck is tingling, like she's being watched.

A slight breeze is blowing, swirling the haze around like a thick stew. She can't breathe.

She doesn't want to talk any more. She doesn't want to move.

_She comes home from playing in the park._

_Her father is lying in a pool of his own blood._

_A woman with a knife is standing over him. Her eyes are white. Milky white._

_Her father opens his mouth, trying desperately to say something, but blood, there's so much blood-_

A snapping twig jolts Emily from her reprieve. She gasps and she turns to where the sound came from.

She sees who found her, and releases the breath she was holding.

It's a cat. It's only a cat. It's walking towards her, stops about six or seven feet from where she sits. It's black and scrawny. The yellow eyes of this creature are staring at her, just staring at her.

"Go away," Emily mutters, waving her hand. The relief that flooded through her at discovering it was only a stray was short lived. She didn't like being watched, and a bony black cat is no exception.

But the cat doesn't move. It doesn't even blink.

Emily sighs. She decided she's had enough of this place. These memories. "I'll see you later, Dad," she says under her breath.

She stands up, but her feet get tangled in each other, and she falls. So she gets up and tries again.

She runs to the gates. She still can't suck in air. Her breathe is just out of reach, and now matter how fast she runs back to the apartment, she just can't seem to catch it.

~*~

Casey drags himself from the floor that substituted as a bed. His back hurts. His head hurts. He pulls himself up and heads to the kitchen. Donnie and Leo had joined Mikey, and there they were, sitting at the cluttered table.

"Hey, guys. What time is it?" asked Casey, yawning.

"A little after noon," said Donnie, flipping through an old magazine. "I say we not pull another night like that for a long time." He says, not looking up.

"I agree," said Leo. "We missed our training this mourning. We'll have to make up for it tomorrow."

"Awww," pouts Mikey. "Why not? I had fun."

"Raph isn't even up yet. Casey _just_ got up. Besides," says Donnie, "my stomach is killing me. I had way too much pizza and soda last night."

Mikey continues pouting.

Leo can't help but smile. "You can still have them at our place, Mikey. Just not here, involving all of us."

"Well," Casey says, reaching for the plate of pancakes. "Just don't forget you guys are always welcome here."

"Even with Emily staying?" asks Donnie tentatively.

"Of course! She seems pretty okay with the whole thing, and if not, I'm sure she'll come around." He looks around the kitchen. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Oh, she woke up about twenty minutes ago, saying she was going out." Says Mikey.

"Where did she go?" Casey sounds surprised.

"Didn't say."

"When is she coming back?" asks Casey, sounding worried.

"Didn't say." The turtle repeats.

"She's lived here before, right?" cuts in Donnie, after seeing the look on Casey's face. "I'm sure that she knows where she's going, or where she's currently at." He says hurriedly.

Casey grumbles something sounding like an agreement.

Leo looks at the clock. "I think it's time we got back to the lair. It's getting late, and Master Splinter is probably getting worried."

Mikey glances towards the living room. "Who wants to wake him up?" he asks, referring to his hot headed brother, who, coincidently, didn't appreciate getting woken up before he was ready to wake up.

Not too surprisingly, no one volunteered.

"Well, Casey," says Mikey. "He likes you the best. Why don't you do the honors?"

Casey looks at Mikey, than to the living room. "Might as well." He stands up. He walks to the place Raph had chosen to sleep. He's bundled in the blankets Casey had dragged from the closet. He looked like a bear. An ominous, angry bear.

He gets closer. "Might as well…" he repeats.

~*~


	5. Chapter Four

Emily reaches Casey's apartment winded and drenched in sweat. She made a bee line for her room and changed into dry cloths, than ventured to the kitchen to fill her nagging stomach.

Casey is cleaning up the living room. He's folding the blankets when Emily walks in.

"Hey, Em," he greets. "Where'd you go?"

"Out," Emily walks into the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty. The mess was still there, of course, but all sign of life – turtle especially – was nowhere to be found. She's too hungry to care. Because she was unwillingly exploring the streets of New York the day before, she had skipped lunch. She skipped dinner too, due to the uninvited guests. She missed breakfast because of her pride. To say she was hungry would be an understatement.

She fixed a sandwitch and sat at the table. When Casey walked in, she noticed he had a bruise over his left eye. "What happened?"

He put the cans and bottles on the counter. "Raph was kinda, uh, grumpy this morning."

"You mean one of the turtles?" she looks almost amused.

"Yeah. I woke him up so his brothers could leave. To put it simply, he didn't quite want to get up yet."

"So Raph is the hot head, than?"

Casey smiles. "You could say that."

Emily mulls this over. "Who's the one in orange?"

"Mikey."

"There were to others, right? What are their names?"

"Leo and Donnie. Leo wears blue, and Donnie's purple." He thinks for a second. "I don't think you've actually met them, have you?"

"No, I can't say I have. Do you know how they got to be giant turtles?"

"A mutation thing." He answers, raising his eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"

Visions of laboratories, with gleaming equipment with sharp, deadly teeth and doctors in white lab coats vanish from her mind. "No reason," she says quietly.

Emily finishes her lunch, than looks around the kitchen. "Any thing planned for today?" she asks, putting her used dishes in the over-crowded sink.

"Not really. I figured I'd give you time to settle in before I did anything major. Unless, of course," he flashes another smile "you actually want to do something today."

"Actually there is," she makes a point of eye-balling the room. "I think I'll clean today."

"You don't have to do that," Casey says, flustered.

"And you're going to?"

Her uncle balks. "Well, when you put it that way…"

"Yeah, I thought so," She turns on the hot water, and gets to work.

~*~

Three hours and four trash bags later, they're in the living room. Emily is sitting at the foot of the coach reading a book with Willie beside her. Casey is watching some nonsense on the television. She looks up when the phone rings.

"I'll get it," Casey stands and walks to the phone in his bedroom.

Emily just goes back to the book she's reading. She absent mindedly strokes Willie's soft fur.

Several minutes later, she hears Casey say goodbye and hang up the phone. He walks back in.

"Who was that?" asks Emily, feigning interest.

"April," he says, sitting back on the coach.

"Who's she?"

"My girlfriend."

This gets his niece's attention. "Your girlfriend? Seriously?"

He pretends to be offended. "Don't sound so surprised. I can be quite charming when I want to be."

"Of course you can, Casey," she said rolling her eyes. "With your wife beaters and beer in hand, I'm sure you could make any woman swoon."

"Hey," he says, throwing the remote at her.

She scoots out of the way, a smug look on her face. "So how's April today?"

"Actually, I made dinner plans. Hope you don't mind."

"Dinner plans? Why would I be bothered by my uncle having a life while I'm here?"

Casey shrugs. "Because it's not a date; you're coming too."

She raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"You heard me. April wants to meet you. And I figured it would be a good time for you to properly meet the turtles. They're good guys," he persists, when he sees Emily try to cut in. "They're also my best friends. It wouldn't be right if I didn't give them a chance to know you."

"I'll go. But Casey," she says forebodingly, "Don't hold me accountable for what might come out of my mouth."

"Like what?" he looks worried.

Emily shakes her head. "Maybe I should tell you not to hold me accountable for what _doesn't_ come out of my mouth."

"As long as you don't clam up entirely," Her uncle seems to understand entirely.

Emily reaches for her book, repositions Willie on her lap. "No promises," she says simply.

Casey smiles and refocuses his attention on the TV.

~*~

They arrive at an antique store with the words _Second Time Around_ painted on a sign over the display window.

"So she owns an antique store? That's cool." Emily comments politely. "Is her apartment on top?"

"Yeah, April's dad owned this shop before her, I think." Casey says opening the door.

"So there is an apartment over the store than." When Casey nods, she says, "Isn't there a back door, or a side door, or something?"

"I suppose, but I've just always used the shop entrance."

The door shuts behind them. Emily looks around at the store in the fading sunlight. She sees mirrors, tables, paintings, pocket watches and other various knick knacks. Emily always liked antique stores. The promise of a story behind every item that resided in them was appealing.

"Up here, Em," Casey calls from the back.

She follows his voice and sees he's already half-way up a staircase, presumably leading to April's apartment. She catches up, and walks with him to a room. She can only assume its April's living room. There's an old coach against the wall, facing a TV and a painting hangs on the far wall.

"Casey, is that you?" a woman's voice calls from a different room. "You're early."

"Hey, Babe," Casey says as the voice emerges and walks towards them.

The woman is averaged sized, several inches shorter than Emily, with deep green eyes and dark red hair. She's wearing a tank top with a lose blouse and tan khakis. April is very pretty.

"You must be Emily," April says, extending her hand. "I'm April."

"It's nice to meet you," Emily responds respectfully, shaking April's hand.

April smiles and nods. "The guys aren't here yet. Go ahead and make your self's comfortable. Can I get you anything?"

April must have said the magic words, because Casey walks over and plops himself down on the coach, turning on the TV. Emily sees April roll her eyes. "I'm good, Babe. Sure smells good though," he says referring to the dinner cooking in the kitchen.

"Thanks Hon," Aprils says turning.

"Is there anything I can help with?" asks Emily before April can leave.

April pauses. "You sure? I'd hate to have to ask a guest to work."

"It's no problem."

"Okay, than. This way." April leads her into the kitchen.

"Should we have brought something?" Emily asks suddenly.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Usually when being invited to dinner you bring something. A side dish, an appetizer, flowers, you know. Something like that."

April smiles. "Flowers would have been nice. But don't worry about it. You can bring them next time. I need a salad more than I need new scenery anyway." She washes her hand, motioned for the girl to do the same. "We don't need a lot of it, just enough." April reaches into her fridge and retrieved lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese. "Ever made a salad before?"

"I'm not much of a cook, but you cut up the greens, dice the tomatoes and onions and combine them in a bowl right? How hard could it be?" she eyes the ingredients April pulled out. "Is that cheese?"

"It is easy to make a salad. And cheese goes on the side, because I happen to like a little bit of dairy with my veggies." She sets the item on the counter. "Could you set the table?" April points to the cupboard that contains the plates, another that contains the glasses and a drawer that holds the silverware.

"Seven places, right?" Emily checks, reaching up for the plates.

"Yep," April confirms.

Each woman focuses on the task at hand for a couple minutes. Finally, the older breaks the silence. "So," she begins. "You'll be staying for the rest of the summer?"

"That's what I'm told."

"I know you've only been here for a day, but how do you like it?"

Emily straightens the fork she just placed on the table. "So far, I don't have many complaints. The few I do have are due in part to the fact Casey hasn't changed since I last saw him." She places a spoon down next. "And I'm closer to my dad, so that's a plus."

"Your dad?"

Emily nods, looking at the table. "When he died, we moved to Rhode Island, so I never got to visit. But right now, I'm closer." She runs a hand though her curly hair. "It sounds unusual, to say it like that, but it's true."

April opens her mouth to say something. She didn't know what was going to come flying out, but a voice from the living room stopped her.

"April," yelled Casey, "They're here."

As proof, a turtle poked his head into the kitchen. "Need any help, ladies?" He asks politely. He's wearing a purple head band with a staff strapped to his shell. Emily tried to remember if he was the one called Leo or Donnie.

"I think we've got it covered," said April. "But we'll call you if we need anything."

"Sounds good," he says, turning to leave.

"Are you Donnie?" asks Emily, before he can. "Or are you Leo?"

The turtle smiles. "I'm Donnie. Donatello's my full name."

Emily nods. "Nice to meet you, Donatello."

He smiles again, and disappears to the living room.

"Anything else you need me to do?" She asks April.

April looks around the kitchen. "Nope. Why don't you go tell everyone dinner is ready?" She washes her hands and puts the salad on the table. "While you're doing that, I'll get the chicken from the oven."

As Emily walks into the living room, she heard April mutter, "I'm starving. I can only imagine how hungry the guys are."

~*~


	6. Chapter Five

Emily is sitting on the fire escape at April's apartment. She's trying to stargaze, but the lights from the city are making the task kind of difficult.

Dinner had been interesting. When Emily came to tell everyone that dinner was ready, before she could even get a word out, Leonardo walked up to her and had asked if she would keep their existence a secret.

"And who would I tell?" came her reply. When she saw this wasn't quite the answer he was looking for, she nodded and said, "I will, I promise."

He than nodded, and Emily couldn't help but notice the authority he carried, the _responsibility. _If you weren't used to it, (Which she wasn't) it was rather intimidating.

She had glanced at the rest of the room. "Dinner's ready."

The girl was by far the closest to the kitchen, but somehow Mikey had made it to the table first. An interesting thing she learned about Michelangelo that night: he had close to no filter, which caused him to expel all awkwardness around him. She had noticed it that morning, but any doubts she had had disappeared quickly.

Donatello, whom she had met minutes earlier, was very agreeable and easy to get along with. Emily could tell he was a very intelligent person from just a few minutes of small talk. He was slightly nervous, but Emily couldn't blame him.

Than there was Raph. Emily and Raphael hadn't exactly hit it off on the best of terms, but she had a feeling if she had met any one of the turtles in the same way, the results of the encounter would have been the same.

He was hot-headed, and he was surly all through dinner. When Mikey made an obnoxious comment, he'd be the first to react, usually hitting his younger brother in the back of his head. Emily knew she shouldn't, but she found this quite amusing.

At first it was really awkward and tense. She had still felt odd being around giant turtles. It hadn't helped that April told Emily to sit at the head of the table. Emily declined.

"Why not?" April had asked.

"It just feels like I'm being put on display." It didn't matter.

At first, all the conversation had been was small talk. Polite murmurs and comments. But Emily wasn't fooled; they were just waiting to roast her alive.

She didn't have to wait long. "So," said the one in blue, "you lived with your mother before coming to stay with Casey, correct? Where does she live?"

"Rhode Island." Came her monotone answer.

"What does she do for a living?" he asked again.

"Teach."

"What does she teach?" Emily could tell he was trying to get her to actually talk, but he was going about it the wrong way. She wasn't an egg easily cracked.

"School."

He sighed. She reached for her glass.

"What grade level?" asked Donnie.

She looked at him. He seemed to squirm under her stare. "Third," she said finally.

"Well, isn't that nice," he muttered.

"What grade are you in?" asked Mikey from down the table.

Emily put her glass down. "Eleventh."

Mikey had thought this over. "So, you're fifteen?"

"Nope."

"Sixteen?"

"Nope."

"Seventeen?"

Emily sighed. "Yes, Mikey, I'm seventeen."

"You don't have to be a bitch about it, you know." Said Raph in a casual tone.

"Raph," Casey warned.

Emily turned her steely gaze on the turtle. "Can I help it if I don't like questions?"

"So you don't like Q&A," said Donnie quickly, cutting off whatever Raph was about to say. "How about you ask us something?"

From there, that night had smoothed out. No longer in the direct glow of the spot light, Emily wasn't quite so tense. She could tell they were still curious about various things, but they stopped asking questions, and for that Emily was grateful.

Dinner passed, and the turtles thanked April for the lovely evening.

"Thanks for coming guys," said April, walking them to the fire escape. "Give Splinter my love."

"We'll have to do this again sometime," said Emily sincerely.

Mikey smiled. "That'd be fun. Next time though you need to come to our place."

"Yeah, right, Mikey." Said Raph, pushing Mikey out the window. He landed with a bang and a muffled groan. "That's just what she needs to see. One look at your room and any sensible person would run scared."

"Don't be so sure, Raph." Said Casey, smiling. "She cleaned my kitchen, you know."

"No, way. That mess was legendary." Says Mikey, poking his head through the window he was shoved through.

"Your one brave soul, Emily." Said Donnie, moving Mikey aside so he could leave.

"Or just plain stupid." Smirked Raph, following his brother.

"C'mon, guys," said Leo. "Let's go home." He turned to April one final time. "Thanks again." And he too was gone.

So here Emily stood, just minute after the turtles left, waiting for her uncle to say goodbye to his girlfriend. She was never a patient person. As such, she was ready to go back to Casey's place now. She pokes her head back through the window to shout at Casey, but movement behind her stops her from saying anything.

She turns around to look. At first she thought it was one of the turtles coming back for something, but it was only a cat. On the rail. The rail is thin, so the fact the cat could balance on there was an impressive feat. But than again, cats were agile, so maybe not.

_Hang on a second,_ she thinks. _How did it get up here?_

While April's building was by no means a sky scraper, the fire escape was still on the second floor. Emily didn't know of many cats that could jump two stories.

She reaches her hand out to pet it, but it dodges easily and jumps down to the landing. It looks up at her, flicking it's tail back and forth. The cat is black, scrawny, and clearly a stray. It sits on it's haunches.

Her eyebrows come together. This was the same cat from the graveyard, from earlier. And like earlier, the cat is watching her, staring into her blue eyes. She notices it has a calm expression on it's face.

"Em? You out here?" Casey pokes his head through the window.

The cat is gone before Emily can even react. It jumps up to the rail and as easy as you please, and just jumps off. She looks over the edge, but the cat is gone.

"Em?"

"Yeah, Casey, um, you ready to go?" her mind still hasn't quite caught up.

"Is something wrong?" he asks her, noticing her flustered expression.

"What? Oh, no, nothing's wrong." She pushes past Casey to get back into April's apartment. "Well?" She asks, seeing as how Casey isn't following her. "Let's go."

Casey closes the window. "I'm right behind you."

~*~


	7. Chapter Six

_She's running down a long corridor, running, running, but she goes no where. No matter how hard she pushes, it remains as if she were standing still._

_It's not good enough. She has to get to the end of the hall, to the door. She has to._

She has to.

_But it feels like she's running in glue. Suddenly, the girl trips, plummeting ungracefully to the ground. It's there she discovers it's not glue she was running in. It was something else entirely. Blood._

_And now she's lying there, sprawled on the ground, covered in it._

_A woman appears from the shadows. She has long black hair, and milky white eyes._

_A cruel smile plays on her lips as she reaches out a hand. She's coming closer, closer._

_The girl closes her eyes. She can't look._

~*~

Emily's wakes up, drowning in a flood of sheets. Her legs are twisted and tangled, her hands are clenched. Her throat's sore.

And God, her head hurts. It's pounding in her ears so loudly it makes her teach rattle.

It had been a little over a month since the dinner at April's, and every night since, she had been haunted by these dreams.

It's not like they just suddenly appeared out of thin air. No, she's had these dreams since her father died. She's always been plagued by that long hallway, those milky white eyes. But recently, they've been getting worse.

There never used to be blood.

The woman never came toward her, either. She was always just a figure, a monster kept at bay by her blankets and pillows. And by Willie.

Emily looks around her room for her stuffed tiger. He was sitting on her desk, where she had left him. "You'll keep me safe, won't you?" she asked him, reaching out and holding him close. "Don't let her get me, too."

She looks at the clock. It's late, around midnight, but she knows she's not going to go back to sleep, so she decides to visit her dad. It had been awhile since her last visit, and she needed to do something. It kept her from thinking about her nightmares.

So the girl silently rose from her bed, changed from boxers into a pair of sweats, and walked to the front door. She listened for the steady breathing of Casey in his room. When it didn't come, she figured he was still out with the turtles.

Emily had finally convinced Casey to pick up his vigilantly work again. She didn't want her uncle to put the brakes on his life just because she was with him for awhile. Besides, Raph had promised to take good care of him.

Once she was on the side walk, she walked toward the cemetery. It was a warm August night. After she picked the lock on the gate, she looked up at the sky and saw it was a harvest moon tonight. She could even see most of the stars. Emily closed the gate as quietly as she could. This place was only open from sun up to sun down, so what she was doing wasn't exactly allowed.

But Emily needed to talk to her father, and now was as good a time as any.

She makes her way down the path. The moonlight was bright, leading her way. When she reaches her goal, she sits down, crossing her legs. She puts her hands in her lap, but she doesn't say anything.

A breeze passes through the trees. She can hear leaves dance above her head. "Been awhile," she says finally.

She sighs. Looks around. "I haven't mentioned it yet, but I've been having nightmares lately. I have been, since you died, but they've been getting worse. I'm probably just overreacting…" she trails off as she hears familiar foot steps behind her. She doesn't turn to look because she already knows who it is: the cat.

In the last month, she had seen it often. Usually it came when she went to the graveyard, and sometimes, but not generally, it'd be on the fire escape, looking in through the window.

She had brought up this matter with Casey. He didn't seem to take it as seriously as Emily would have liked.

"_Something wrong?" He asked her when she stormed in through the door._

_She debated even answering. She thought better of it, though, and responded. "I think someone's stocking me."_

"_Who?" he stood up in what he thought was a menacing manner._

_His niece held her up her hands. "I guess it's not someone. It's some_thing_."_

_Casey didn't sit down. He just narrowed his eyes._

"_I visit Dad, and there's this cat. I go out for a jog, and there's this cat. I visit April, and there's this cat. The damn thing'll even walk me home, for God's sake!"_

"_A cat, huh?" he sits back down on the coach, an entertained expression now on his face._

"_Yes, a cat!" Emily snaps. "It's black and ragged looking, much worse than a stray. And it has this piercing gaze."_

"_Maybe it's hungry."_

"_I leave out food." And she did. Bowls of milk, scraps of ham and turkey. "It won't touch anything."_

_He shrugs, unworried. "Maybe it just likes you."_

_She glares at her uncle. "When they find my body in an alley and discover I was clawed to death, it'll be your entire fault, you know."_

"_Killed by a stray?" Emily decides Casey's enjoying this way too much._

"_It's been known to happen," she stalked off to her bedroom, leaving him chuckling in the living room._

The truth was the cat really did worry her. All it did was stare, and no matter which way she took home, no matter how fast she ran, the damn thing always kept up with her, completely unfazed.

She swivels her head in the cat's direction. And sure enough, it's watching her. "And than there's this cat," she says, addressing the grave and talking louder than necessary. "That won't _leave me alone_."

If possible, the damn thing just looks amused.

Emily rolls her eyes. "You haven't met them, but the turtles are doing well.

"Leo keeps trying to get me to go down to the dojo so they can teach me a few self defense moves. I keep telling him you tried that once. If you can remember, it didn't work out to well." She's talking as quietly as she can now, due to the uninvited company. Emily had this weird feeling that the cat was listening, absorbing everything she said.

"Since he's the only one who reads as much as I do, I usually discuss books with Donnie. It's really all we can talk about – he's too smart for me. Although I keep trying to educate him on the properties of _Harry Potter_, but for some mysterious reason, he's just not interested in the wonders it has to offer." She shakes her head. "Nonetheless, it is a relief that he's not caught up in the Twilight craze. I don't know what I'd do…

"Mikey's trying to teach me how to play various video games, but I'm hopeless. Really, incredibly hopeless. He never gets tired of whooping my ass though, so I guess it's all in good faith."

She leans back, so her back is to the ground and she's facing the night sky. "Than there's Raph. He's rude an obnoxious, but he is fun to mess with. Casey is closer to him than to the others, you can tell. I think it's because they both have anger issues, even if Casey is learning to control his." She looks around for the cat, finds it about five feet away, still keeping her in sight.

"The turtles come by a lot. Usually, it's just to pick up Casey to go on patrol, but we have had a few movie nights. Nothing quite as wild or late as that first one, but movie nights regardless."

Emily closes her eyes. "I thought my stay with Casey would be boring, you know? But those turtles make it something else entirely." She doesn't know how late it is, or how long she's been out, but she doesn't particularly care.

A sweet smelling gust passes through the trees and she opens her eyes just a crack. It feels cool in the summer air. Before Emily knows it, she's drifted off into a dreamless sleep, the last thing she sees being the intense look of the yellow eyed cat.

~*~

"Emily," says a gentle voice. "Emily, wake up."

Something's shaking her shoulder. "Hmm?" her eyelids flutter.

"Emily, wake up," the voice repeats.

She sits up, shaking her head, forcing out the grogginess. She rubs the back of her neck. Her shoulders are sore.

She looks around. It's just before dawn, she's still in the graveyard, and the cat is no where in sight.

"C'mon, Emily," said the gentle voice. The person is pulling at her elbow, an unspoken request for her to get up. It's now time to leave.

But it's not a person; it's a turtle. More specific, it's Leo. "Good mornin' Leo," Emily says, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

When Leo sighs, she sees he's impatient. He looks troubled and slightly anxious, as well.

"Is something wrong?" Emily asks, instantly worried.

"Let's go," is all the usually stoic turtle says.

Emily nods and follows him out of the graveyard, and back to Casey's.

But she wouldn't go quietly.

"Leo, what's wrong?" When he doesn't turn around, she says, "Just tell me."

She was starting to go from beyond worried. Leo wasn't running across the roof tops (even if it was only a three block walk) like he usually would. It was starting to get light out too, and Leo was always the most cautious of his brothers. This wasn't like him at all.

"Leo!"

Something in her voice finally makes him turn around.

He doesn't speak right away, but when he does, it's quiet. Emily has to lean forward to hear him. "Just wait until we get to Casey's."

She sighs and nods, knowing that Leo won't cave.

After what seems like an eternity, they reach Casey's apartment. Leo helps her up the fire escape and through the window, following right behind her. It doesn't surprise her to see the living room filled with turtles. Emily searches for her uncle, hunting him down with her eyes.

He's sitting on the coach with his head in his hands.

"Casey?" she's surprised to find her voice doesn't shake as she asks her unanswered question. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's your mother," Donnie says from the corner. "She's dead."

~*~


	8. Chapter Seven

"Dead?" Emily says numbly. She's flabbergasted. How could her mother be dead?

Casey looks up at her, "Em, come sit down."

She shakes her head, almost like a reflex. "What happened?" she whispers.

Donnie suddenly appears at her side. He places a hand at her back. "Go sit down," he says softly, reassuringly. "We'll explain everything."

Emily allows herself to be led to the coach. She sits tentatively next to Casey, as if she's afraid someone might pull the cushions out from under her. Just another cruel joke.

Instinctively, the guys move closer. Mikey sits down next to the girl on the coach. Raph hovers next to Casey, while Donnie stands in front of Emily. Leo stands next to him.

"I came home, and you weren't here." begins Casey, dully. "I figured you were at your dad's grave, so I didn't worry. But there was a message on the recording machine. The people who called left a number, asking me to call back right away. So I did.

"They said they would've waited longer, but your mom didn't tell many people you were gone. No one knew where you were, and they were worried. The police," he was rubbing his head, running a hand through his hair. "The police didn't know where you were, so they called." He raises his head, but he won't look at his niece. "I'm so sorry, Emily."

Emily is trying very hard to keep calm. _Deep breaths_, she reminds herself. _Deep breaths_. "But that doesn't make sense." she finally chokes out. "My step-dad, Brad, he knew where I was, he knew I was with you."

Silence is all that answers her.

"What?"

Mikey takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. Casey won't look at her, Raph won't either. Donnie looks at his hands helplessly. Leo seems to be the only one who wants to answer her.

"It was supposed to be a quiet night at home," he seems to zero in on a point about a foot above her head. "None of them were expecting it, not your mother, step-father or step-brother. But I suppose that's normal with a robbery."

The look of incomprehension, of gut wrenching pain, seems to gradually disappear from her face as what Leo just said sinks in. Slowly, it's replaced by a blank look that's unreadable. Donnie seems to be the only one to notice.

"A robbery," she whispers.

"I'm sorry," Casey repeats.

But Emily didn't seem to have heard him. She let's go of Mikey's hand, which she had been gripping like an anchor, steps around Donnie, and walks to her room. No one follows her.

~*~

"Smooth, Donnie," says Raph sarcastically when they hear Emily's door close. "Just blurt it out, why don't you?"

"Well, somebody had to say something. She knew something was wrong," he seems flustered. He's thinking maybe he shouldn't have just dived right into that.

"Think she'll be okay?" asked Mikey. "Maybe we should have waited to tell her. It's still so early." He glances out the window at the pastels rising in the sky.

"There's no way we could've hidden something like that from her. She's a smart girl, you know." Says Casey quietly from the coach.

"Ya, I know," Raph said quietly.

No one says anything for a while.

A window slams.

Casey stands up. "I'm getting a beer. Anybody want anything?"

"A beer?" asks Leo incredulously. "At this hour?"

Casey shrugs, and walks into the kitchen.

"Leo?" asks Mikey hesitantly. "What's going to happen to her? I mean, with her mom dead…"

"I'm pretty sure socials services will let her stay with Casey. She's almost eighteen; they won't force her into foster care." Responds Donnie confidently.

Leo nods. "I'm sure they prefer having the kids stay with relatives than with foster parents."

They're little brother nods, satisfied.

"So, Fearless Leader," said Raph, addressing Leo, "What do we do now?"

"I'm not sure. I don't want to just leave, but I don't think we'll be any more use." He looks in the direction of Emily's closed door. "Let's ask Casey what he wants us to do. He knows his niece better than we do."

"I wouldn't go that far," Raph mumbles, walking to the kitchen where he finds Casey leaning against the counter, beer bottle in hand. "What do you want us to do, big guy?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. This is way over my head. Hell, I only saw the kid at holidays and special occasions, and what not. I never even met her until she was about six or seven."

"Wow, your uncle status just keeps getting better and better."

"It's like I said before," he says defensively. "Helen didn't like me much. I figured that was always the reason."

Raph thinks a little dislike wouldn't stop a mother from showing off her baby girl, but he says nothing. Instead he suggests they stay for a little while.

"That'd be great, Raph." He says, relief showing on his face. "I can't thank you enough."

"Hey, that's what friends are for." Raph retraces his steps, walking back to the room where his brothers were waiting for his answer.

~*~

Emily stared at her room blankly. The room felt too hot, and her bed was unmade: her comforter was twisted, the blankets were un-tucked from her mattress, falling to the floor, and in the middle of the wreckage sat Willie, patiently waiting. But he wasn't the only thing waiting for her on the bed.

There, lying on the twisted comforter and the fallen sheets, sat the black cat.

He was curled into a ball, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if he had done it every day.

It raises its head, sensing Emily's icy glare upon its back. The cat looks up at her like it always does, except it looks sad. It looks mournful.

"Get out," she whispers. "Get out." She knows it won't change anything, but she wants this cat gone. She wants to be alone, completely alone, and this includes ridding herself of useless animals. "Just leave."

Than the most amazing thing happened. The cat rises to his haunches, and it bows it's head. He stands after a moment or two, and leaps out the window just above her desk.

Watching him jump, her breath catches. She kept that window closed; it was too hot in the late summer months to leave it open. She_ knows_ that window was shut and latched.

Shaking slightly, she walks over to the open window, not even bothering to look for the cat that's already long gone, and slams the window shut with a bang.

Still shaking, she sits on her bed. Emily runs a hand through her hair. She doesn't know what to do.

She lets her eyes wander around her room. She turns, and they land, as if on their own accord, on the picture she taped above her bed.

The picture is of her and her father together at the park. Emily was around twelve, maybe thirteen. They were sitting on a bench, side by side. Her father's arm was casually around her shoulders. He was smiling, and she looked happy, aloof. Free of all worries and nightmares.

Only than do the tears fall.

_Deep breaths_, she reminds herself. But it's useless.

Her father was dead, and her mother was dead.

And she had this sinking feeling that it was all her fault.

~*~


	9. Chapter Eight

She didn't say much for a couple weeks, and she spent a lot of time in her room. The nightmares still overwhelmed her, and she wouldn't go outside the apartment, including the cemetery. She showed almost no emotion, and she ignored the world around her.

Emily ignored the funeral too. She just couldn't bring herself to go down to Rhode Island, and Casey hadn't pushed her or insisted she gone. If the turtles were bothered by her not paying her respects, they didn't say anything.

The turtles were being supportive, and kept trying to get her to come out of her shell, so to speak.

But Emily wouldn't budge. When Mikey wanted to show off a new video game, she shook her head. When Donnie would recommend a new book, she'd sigh and say maybe later. When Raph insulted her, trying to get her to show some emotion (even if it was anger) she just shrugged him off. Only Leo left her alone.

"It's only been two weeks; she needs more time." He said. His brothers grudgingly agreed.

Than one day, just after the four week mark, she bakes cookies.

~*~

She was spending the day curled up in the fetal position, hugging Willie so hard to her body she was surprised the stuffing didn't pop out. She heard a soft tapping on her window.

She relinquished her hold on her tiger and turned. Sure enough, there was the cat, looking in on her through the window. She doesn't let him in.

She hadn't seen the cat since the morning she had banished it from her room. In all honesty, Emily was surprised it hadn't showed up sooner. But it stood there now, in her window, wanting to be let in. She sighs, gets up and lifts the pane of glass.

He jumps on the desk gratefully, than goes straight for the bed, where Emily was previously curled up. It doesn't lat down. Instead it sits down and stares at her.

If Emily didn't know better, she would have thought the cat looked mad. But much, much more than mad: it looked just plain pissed.

The glare unnerves the girl. "What?" she says. For some odd reason, she's embarrassed. "What did I do?"

The cat's look shifts into a skeptical expression. It changes back instantly, however, and than the cat stalks out of the room.

Emily watches it go, feeling a blush creeping up her neck. It seemed to be a message, but she couldn't figure out what it meant.

Emily sat down on her bed, and thought. She made a decision.

She decided she was tired of wallowing in her own self pity. She decided she was tired of everyone tip-toeing around her. And God damn it, she was definitely tired of being weak.

So she takes a shower, she gets dressed, and goes to the kitchen. It's mid-afternoon on a beautiful September day. The school term had started, but Casey suggested she take some time off, and Emily hadn't minded at all.

Her uncle was currently at April's shop, helping out with "man-stuff", or in other words, doing all the things April wasn't willing to do. He hadn't wanted to, but Emily had insisted; she was tired of having to tell her uncle to have a life.

She looks around the kitchen and finds everything she needs. She can't cook, but she sure can bake. Keeping busy has always made her feel better, and she was tired of moping around, so she got to work.

After mixing together flour, eggs, butter and milk, along with other necessary ingredients, she turns on the stove and puts the first batch of cookies in the oven. After setting the timer, she looks around. There was nothing that needed cleaning. Casey had started picking up after himself for the past weeks, not wanting to bother her.

She wanders into the living room and sees a small stack of books on the coffee table. She recognizes them as the books Donnie had kept pitching to her. Emily picks the first one up, reads the summary on the back, than decides it's worthy.

She makes her self comfortable on the coach and opens the book to the first chapter. She starts to read.

~*~

Emily is in the middle of the third chapter when she hears the timer go off. She marks her place and goes to retrieve the cookies from the oven. As she's in the middle of readying a new batch of cookies to face the oven's heat, she hears the front door open.

Casey seems surprised when he walks into the kitchen. "Good afternoon, Em."

"Hey," she replies in greeting. She puts the cookies in the oven. "How's April?"

"Pretty good. She'd like a visit from you, actually. It's been awhile, you know." He doesn't seem to know what to say. It had been a couple weeks since uncle and niece had actually had a decent conversation.

"I'm sure we can make something work,"

"You mind?" Casey asks, eyeing the cookies on the cooling rack.

"Would it matter if I did?" she teased, making her way to the living room. She sits down on the coach, making her self comfortable again, and picks up her book.

Casey follows her, munching on a cookie. "These are good," He sits beside her and picks up the remote control. "Are you okay?" he asks, not looking at her.

"I'm fine, Casey." She doesn't look up from her book.

Her uncle nods, and turns on the TV.

~*~

Emily was just finishing her fourth batch of cookies when she hears the window open in the living room.

Mikey pokes in head in the kitchen. He breathes deep and says, "Wow, what a smell. You made cookies?"

"I did, as a matter of fact." She points to the finished plate and Mikey picks one up. "How many you making?" he asks after taking a big bite.

"I have enough eggs and butter for another dozen."

"So how many have you made already?"

She does some quick calculations in her head. "About four and a half dozen, I think."

Mikey reaches for the plate again and grabs the three biggest cookies he can find. "You won't mind then?"

Emily holds up her hand. "By all means."

He smiles and runs off to the living room, almost colliding with his brother, who had come in to say hi.

"Watch it, shell-for-brains." Raph snaps.

"Sorry, Dude." Mikey says, and then he disappears from sight.

Raph mutters something ineligible under his breath, than sees the cookies. "I didn't know you could bake." He says, reaching for the plate.

Emily rolls her eyes. "About the only thing I can do."

Raph doesn't say anything as he munches on his treat. "Casey said you were doing better." He pauses. "He's right."

Emily raises her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're out of your room, aren't you? And you're dressed. Hell," he says reaching for another cookie. "You made chocolate chips cookies. You're doing better."

All she does is shrug. "If you say so."

"Why the sudden change?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yesterday when we came, you refused to come out of your room. Now you're not only out, but jumping around. What gives?"

"'The way sadness works is one of the strangest riddles of the world.'"

"And where'd you get that from?" He doesn't seem amused. "I'm being serious here."

"I am, too. So you don't like Lemony Snicket. What about the Queen of Scots? 'No more tears now; I will think upon revenge.'"

"So you want revenge?"

Emily opens her mouth, than closes it. She seems to think about what she just said. "I just don't want to be sad anymore." She finishes putting the dough on the pan. After putting it in the oven, she sets the timer.

"Than stick to Lemon Snicket." Raph's leaning against the counter across from where Emily is working. "Or whatever his name is."

"Sounds like a plan." She picks up the cookie plate and takes it to the living room.

"That's a lot of cookies," says Casey as she sets the plate down on the coffee table.

Mikey smiles from the floor and reaches for yet another treat. "Is that complaining I hear, Casey?"

"Mikey," Leo warns from the other end of the coach.

"They're here to eat," insists Emily. "Please, help yourself." She looks around the room. Raph had come in and had sat down beside Casey, but one turtle was still missing. "Where's Donnie?"

"He's back at the lair," Leo answers. "He said he's in the middle of some big project he's working on."

Mikey rolls his eyes. "No, he said it was strictly research he was doing. Apparently it's really hard to find what it is he's looking for."

"What is it that he's looking for?" she asks curiously.

"Won't tell us," says Raph. "Not that that's unusual."

"Once he gets into a project of his, almost nothing will stop him." Mikey shrugs. "It's only a problem when we want to play a game, or do something interesting."

"Only a problem for you, you mean," says Raph pointedly.

Mikey sticks his tongue out at his older brother.

Emily reaches for a cookie, than sits down on the floor next to the young turtle. As she's munching on it, she reaches for her book and continues reading. She's reached chapter seven, and only the call of the timer can get her to put the book down.

"I was thinking about going out tonight, Em." Says Casey from above her. "It's been awhile since we've made our rounds, and, well…"

"Its fine, Casey. I don't mind." She says automatically.

"You sure?"

"Yep."

Casey opened his mouth. He might have said something, but the ringing from the kitchen signaled more cookies ready to come out.

Emily marks her place, than goes back to the kitchen for what seems like the umpteenth time. She takes out the pan. She removes the cookies, putting them on the cooling rack.

Looking out the window, she sees its dark outside.

Emily decides against making a final batch. She's done with baking for the day.

She turns off the oven and starts to clean up the mess she made.

After awhile, Casey comes in. "We're heading out. Don't know when we'll be back."

She turns. "Have fun." she answers.

"Emily," calls Mikey, "I'm taking some cookies, okay?"

She hears the inevitable slap and groan of pain. "I asked first, didn't I?"

Before Raph has a chance to answer, Emily yells, "Sure thing, Mikey. Be sure to share!"

She doesn't hear his response, probably due to the fact that Raph shoved him through the window again.

Leo stands in the doorway of the kitchen. "I'm glad you're doing better," he says earnestly.

Emily nods. "Thanks, I guess." He turns to leave, but she stops him. "Leo, have fun tonight."

He smiles. "Thanks." And than he's gone.

"Bye!" Casey yells, one last time.

Shaking her head, she turns back to the disorder of the counters.

She can feel a genuine smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

She gets back to work.

~*~


	10. Chapter Nine

"Donnie, c'mon. You said you'd play."

"No I didn't, Mikey, and you know it."

"Please?"

"Can't it wait?"

"No. Please?"

Donnie sighs. He was getting nowhere with his research, and Mikey's constant complaining wasn't helping anything. "I'm busy, Mikey. Ask Raph or Leo."

"I have. Leo's busy training and Raph just said no."

"Than play the game by yourself."

"But it's boring that way! Please, Donnie?" Mikey whines. "Please?"

Donnie closes the window that's on the screen and opens another one. "This is important. If you're so desperate than go ask Master Splinter."

"You know he's going to say no!" When Donnie doesn't answer, Mikey gives an aggravated groan. "Fine, Donnie. I'll leave you alone." He storms off dejectedly.

A few minutes pass, and Donnie feels bad. He was ignoring his duties, and for what? Some hunch he had. Some hunch with no leads, no information at all to back it up. He closes all the files on his computer.

"Mikey!" he calls. "Wait up!"

~*~

_She's walking down a hall. It's the same one she's visited constantly for years. But something's different._

_She needs to get to the end of the hall, to the door, but all urgency is gone. All that's left is slight curiosity._

_She wants to get to the end simply to know what lies inside for her to see. She feels _compelled_ to get to that door, and anxious feelings seem to have disappeared entirely._

_Finally, she reaches the door. She places her hand on the cold, round doorknob. Anticipation runs through her veins. The door slowly creeks open, and the girl steps inside._

_The room resembles her father's study. Books, thousands upon millions of books line the walls. They put her at ease. They create a calmness that covers her completely as she gazes at the leather lining the shelves._

_Besides the many books, the room is empty, absolutely empty. There's no desk, no lamp, no chairs, no computer. Just empty._

_As the girl is gazing at the sight around her, a stranger steps out from behind the shelves._

_She looks no more than twelve. Her eyes are a light grey, and her white-blond hair hangs to her shoulders. She has a crooked smile to match her crooked teeth._

_The mysterious child says something, but the girl can't make it out._

What did you say?_ But the girl's own words seem to turn to dust before reaching the ears of her companion._

_The child opens her mouth, trying to repeat what had been spoken. When it become apparent that no words could pass between them, the child becomes irritated. Her grey eyes grow fierce._

_But this sudden outbreak is gone in an instant, and the child sighs soundlessly, and disappears as inexplicably as she came._

~*~

Emily woke up to the sun light that flittered in from her window. Her head was killing her, like it always did after those dreams.

Who was that girl? Emily always knew who the people were, could always place them one way or another. It troubled her that some girl would appear out of nowhere like that.

Shaking her head (than stopping immediately because it hurt too much) she got out of bed and changed.

There was no longer blood in her dreams, and her father hadn't showed up for at least a week. Not that she was complaining. Except for the headaches that greeted her when she woke up, she didn't mind her dreams. She still would have liked to know who that girl was.

She goes to the bathroom to get a good dose of Aspirin. Coming out, she sees Casey spread out on the coach. She walks over to him and pokes him in the chest.

Her uncle stirs, but he doesn't wake up. Emily pokes him harder.

Nothing.

"Oi!" she yells, slapping him.

He snorts and opens his eyes, seemingly surprised by the sudden violence. "That hurt," he says, rubbing his chest.

"Late night?"

"Ya," he nods. "What time is it, anyway?"

"About 10:30." Emily stares into Casey's dark brown eyes. She raises her eyebrows expectantly.

"Can I help you with something?" He asks, unnerved by her stare.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere right now?"

He stares at the girl blankly for a moment. "Oh!" he exclaims, finally getting it. "Oh, shit! She's going to kill me!" He jumps up from the coach.

Emily rolls her eyes. "If you call now, she might…uh…" she thinks. "No, never mind. You're doomed no matter what you do."

Casey is already in the kitchen, reaching for the phone to call his girlfriend. When April answers, Emily can hear Casey's apology, with consists mostly of groveling and begging.

She sits down on the coach and picks up the remote. She didn't watch much TV, but she turned it on anyway. After a few moments of flipping through the channels, Casey walks in. "Em," she looks over. "Go get dressed."

Her eyebrows come together. "I am dressed."

"Good. Be ready to leave in about fifteen minutes."

"Why?"

"April's mad. She likes you. Hey, it's called self-preservation!" he says, seeing the look on Emily's face. "You can't blame me for trying to save my skin here."

"No, but I can blame you for using me as a human shield."

"Think of it as a learning experience."

"And just what am I learning?"

"To not piss of April. Now, let's go."

~*~

Donnie was back in his lab, breaking into the medical archives of various doctor offices around New York. He knew it was a long shot, but there was nothing else to do. He was following another lead, after several had lead him to dead ends.

He watched the names fill the screen. He clicked on the one that he was looking for.

_Maybe_, he thought. _Maybe._

Data fills the screen. Donnie scrolls through the information, his eyes growing wider as it all sinks in.

It doesn't make sense; not all of it, anyway. But it's enough. What he found is enough.

He jumps up to go find his oldest brother. He would know what to do.

~*~


	11. Chapter Ten

"Donnie, what's so important?" asked Leo, following his younger brother to his lab.

"C'mon, Leo. I'll explain every thing, just," Donnie opens the door. "Just humor me, okay?"

Donnie sits down in front of his computer. He pulls up the files he had gone to such trouble to find. He moves aside. "Look at this."

Leo focuses on the computer, squinting in the light to better see. Donnie watches him anxiously as he reads. "Well?" he probes.

"Coincidence," he says softly. "That's all it is."

"But look at this," He pushes his older brother aside, and opens a folder. He clicks on a document, bringing it up on the screen. "Read this, and tell me it's a coincidence."

As Leo reads the screen, his face shows confusion. He shakes his head. "What does this mean?" he asks, deep in thought.

"That's what I want to know." Donnie says earnestly.

Leo considers his brother. "Can you find anything else? Anything at all?"

Donnie nods. "I can try. But Leo," he sighs, exasperated. "Someone is hiding something. And their hiding it well."

Leo considers this. "Do the best you can. Find what they're hiding. And find out who 'they' are."

Donnie nods. "But if I could just ask-"

"No," he says sharply. "Not now. We have no way off knowing that all this speculation will lead anywhere."

Donnie sighs and nods. "Yeah, I suppose your right." He starts typing.

Leo walks out of the lab, leaving his brother to his work. He passes the dojo, and considers resuming his training, but decides against it. He knows he wouldn't be able to concentrate. So instead of working out, he goes to his room to meditate. There's a lot Leo has to think about.

~*~

"See?" says Casey, opening the door for his niece. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

It was early in the night, around 6:30. The day had been uneventful. April was peeved, but didn't appear to be surprised Casey had forgotten their date that day. Much to Emily's surprise, however, April didn't seem upset when Casey had brought her along to encroach.

"I still can't believe you didn't bring her flowers." Emily walks through the door and sits down on the coach.

"How was I supposed to know-" when Casey suddenly stops, Emily turns to look at him.

"Casey?"

"Isn't that your cat?" he's looking through the window, to the fire escape.

The cat is looking in the living room. Its yellow eyes stare right at Emily. "It's not mine," she grumbles.

When Casey starts walking toward him, the feline glares at the man. Casey, completely unfazed, opens the window.

The cat jumps in, and saunters over to where Emily is sitting on the coach. It leaps up, and sits down beside her. It looks at her, than puts its head on its paws. Its eyes close.

Casey closes the window. After getting a beer from the fridge, he sits down on the other side of Emily.

"I told you it liked you," he said smugly, turning on the TV.

Emily glances at the animal beside her. Even though it's eyes are closed and appears to be asleep, she has a feeling it's alert, taking in everything that's being said.

"I'm not a cat person," she says uneasily.

Casey flips through the channels looking for a hockey game. "And that right there is a cat's favorite person."

"Someone who loathes their very existence?"

Her uncle smirks. "It's not like they aim to please, Em."

She rolls her eyes. "Look at you, Mr. Know-It-All. Since when were you an expert?"

"My mom loved cats, and I didn't."

Emily shakes her head and stands to leave. The cat pulls himself up and down to the floor quickly. She looks at him. He looks right back.

Casey smiles. "Looks like you got an admirer there."

Emily grumbles something and goes to her room, with the cat following behind her.

~*~

_Donnie is in his lab when he hears it. A child is laughing hysterically just down the hall. He stands up to follow it, curious._

_He follows the sound to the living room, and is met only by the TV. The turtle is about to leave when the TV suddenly turns on. Getting a closer look, he sees that it's filled with code._

_The incoherent numbers and letters scroll up as more code is added. Donnie taps the screen, as if that would fix the peculiar problem._

_He sighs and shakes his head._

_Than he hears the laughter behind him. He turns, and there's a little girl standing in the middle if the room, where the coach should be._

_The girl has long blond hair. Her lips are pulled into a crooked smile, and her grey eyes are focused on the screen that rests behind Donnie._

Look again,_ she says in a wispy voice. _Go on.

_Donnie does what is asked of him, and looks again at the TV. The code has been replaced with three words that seem to flash on the screen like neon lights: The Dream Sequence._

What does it mean?_ He asks the girl. But she's already gone._

~*~

Donnie wakes with a start. He's in his room, in his bed. He has an uneasy feeling like he's being watched. His door is open, and he can hear Mikey down the hall, snoring to wake the dead.

He glances at his clock, only to find it's barely after three-o-clock in the morning. He rolls onto his shell, looking up at his ceiling. Deciding he won't be going back to sleep anytime soon, Donnie drags himself out of his sheets and walks to the kitchen to make some coffee.

Sitting at the table, he stares blankly at the wall. The dream he had woken from was hazy, but something stood out sharply. The Dream Sequence.

What did it mean?

He grabs a mug and fills it with the bitter, black liquid. He makes his way to his lab in hopes that he'll be able to answer his own question.

~*~

A week passed. Anywhere Emily went, the cat went too. Whether the girl liked it or not, they had become inseparable.

When she went to the kitchen to eat, the cat sat down in on of the unused chairs and watched her.

When she went to the living room to read or watch a movie, the cat curled up mere inches from where she sat, alternating between watching the screen and watching the girl.

When she merely sat in her room, the cat was always within reach, whether it rest at the end of her bed or on her desk. Where it stood, it always watched her.

While Emily slept, the cat paced soundlessly in her room. Than one night, in early October, the cat left the girl's side.

It slipped out the room, padded across the carpet, and reached the fire escape window. With slight difficulty, the cat was able to undo the latch, so the person waiting on the other side could open the window and enter the room.

A girl crossed the threshold. She had deep, searching grey eyes and blond hair so light and fair, it seemed to glow in the dark.

She smiled expectantly. "Good kitty," the girl whispers, reaching down to pat the head of the black feline. But it jumped out of reach and looked pointedly at Emily's room.

She nods, seeming to remember herself. The girl trots to the room. She opens the door wider and walks inside.

Emily is lying on her side, her lips slightly parted. Willie is sitting on the floor, his glass eyes focused on empty space.

The stanger silently leans over the bed and places her hand mere inches away from the curly head before her. Closing her eyes, the girl leans closer to Emily.

She begins to whisper into her ear.

The cat appeared, and jumped on the desk, watching the two girls.

The door to the apartment opens and closes. The cat jumps from the desk to meet the intruder. It's Casey, home from making the rounds with the turtles. There's a cut along his jaw, and his right eye's swollen.

Casey notices the cat standing in the middle of the room. It's glaring at him again, but he ignores it and walks to the bathroom for some pain pills. The cat follows him.

After swallowing several tablets, he makes his way to his own room, to his soft bed, but something stops him. His niece's door is open, and he can see the outline of someone leaning over the bed.

"Hey!" He yells. _"Hey!"_

The girl withdraws her hand, and her head snaps up to where Casey stands, just outside the door. Her eyes grow wide. She'd been caught.

"Who are you?" he shouts angrily. "Get away from her!"

She looks down at Casey's feet, where the cat is. It has an unreadable expression on its face.

Emily stirs behind her. "Casey?" she asks sleepily. "What's wrong?"

As the girl looks back at Casey's heated face, she smiles a shy smile. "It's nice to meet you, Casey Jones." She says in a raspy voice.

Than before Casey even has time to react, she jumps forward, places her hand on his chest, and applies pressure.

The sensation that jolts through his body brings him to his knees. Closing his eyes, he's met with flashing images: green fields and smiling faces. Laughing children and water falls. Blooming flowers and rainbows.

"Wha – what the hell?" No matter how hard Casey tries, he can't get the images to disappear from his head. He loses sense of all his surroundings, only seeing the flashing scenery.

"Casey!" yells Emily, seeing her uncle on his knees.

The unknown girl runs back the way she came, the black cat on her heels. As they jump through the open window, she looks back, and watches as Emily scrambles from the confines of her sheets and runs to her uncle on the floor, a look of horror on her face.

"Casey!"

The girl closes the window, and jumps from the fire escape, following the cat into the night.

~*~


	12. Chapter Eleven

"Casey!" yells Emily. "Casey!" Her hand is on his forearm, and he was still on his knees. There is no expression on his face. In fact, it appeared quite calm, as if he were merely sleeping. His chin rests on his chest.

The girl is gone, and so is the cat. Emily looks around the apartment desperately, as if something lying among the clutter could help.

She doesn't know what to do. Finally, her wild gaze lands on the kitchen, where Casey kept a phone. Relieving her death grip on her uncle, she made a mad dash to the phone, ripped it from its cradle and dialed the number he had scribbled on a note pad on the fridge.

She hears ringing. Once. Twice.

"Hey, Casey." chirps Mikey from the other end. "Long time no see."

Emily doesn't say anything for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she says, "Mikey, I need help."

"Emily? How ya been?"

"Mikey," she repeats. "I need help." She says it more forcefully this time.

"Uh, okay. What do you need help with?" the young turtle sounds confused.

Again, Emily is quiet. "Something's wrong with Casey."

"What's wrong?"

"He's not moving."

There's a pause. "We'll be right there."

She stares at the phone in her hands. She looks back at Casey. Sighing she puts the phone back on the cradle and quickly walks to where Casey rests.

She had calmed down considerably, which she attributed to talking with Mikey. She kneels down beside her uncle again, puts her arm on his shoulder. Together, they wait for the turtles.

~*~

Mikey hangs up the phone from where he sits in the living room. "Hey, Raph," he calls.

Raph's in the kitchen, grabbing a quick snack before bed. "What?"

"That was Emily on the phone."

"So I heard. How's she doing?"

"She says something's wrong with Casey."

Raph shook his head. "There's a lot wrong with Casey, but she didn't need to call to tell us that."

"She says he's not moving." Mikey's blue eyes cloud over with worry.

Raph abandons looking for something to eat. He comes out to the living room. "I was just with the guy. Hell, so were you and Leo."

"She sounded anxious."

Raph sighs. "What did you tell her?"

"That'd we come over."

Raph nods. "Fine. Let's go."

"What about Leo? Is he not coming?"

"He and Don have been antsy lately. We'll deal with this ourselves."

Mikey jumps up. "Okay."

Wordlessly they leave the lair, and head over to Casey's apartment. Mikey scrambles up the fire escape, with Raph right behind him.

Mikey begins to knock on the window, than find it's unlatched. Opening it, he jumps through.

"Emily?" calls Mikey. He can see her down the hall, beside Casey.

At the sound of her name, she turns to the turtle. "Hey, Mikey." She gets to her feet. "Thanks for coming."

"What's wrong with him?" asks Raph gruffly.

"I don't know. I woke up, and he was yelling about something. Than the shadows seemed to move; a little girl jumped at him. I didn't see what she did, but she ran past, and Casey was on his knees." She shakes her head. "I didn't see where she went next, probably out the window. But Casey wasn't moving."

Raph looks incredulous. "You mean a little girl did this to him?"

Emily's cheeks turn red. "I know what I saw. It was a child."

Raph reaches over Emily and shakes Casey. "Hey, hey, shit-head."

But the man doesn't stir.

Raph sighs, annoyed. "So this girl," he says sarcastically. "You didn't see what she did?"

"No. She said something, but maybe she didn't. My foot was still in my dream."

"Was anything unusual when you woke up?"

"Unusual?"

"Like things out of place, things missing, you know. Unusual." He says, still annoyed.

"Things missing," she repeats absently, ignoring the tone Raph was using. "The cat was gone."

"The cat?" asks Mikey. "What cat?"

"The stalker cat," says Raph, shaking his head. "I don't believe this."

"I thought Casey hated cats."

They both ignored the turtle. "Hey! That cat has been stuck to me like glue for the past week. And now it's gone."

"A missing cat isn't exactly cause to raise an alarm."

"I didn't call you here because some stupid cat was missing. I called you here because there's something wrong with Casey!"

Raph sighs loudly. "And what's wrong with Casey?"

"I don't know! That's why I called you!"

"Emily?" asks Mikey.

"What?" she snaps.

"Did you lock the window before you went to bed?"

Emily takes a deep breath to calm herself. "Yes, I did. What does that have to do with anything?"

"It was unlocked when we got here."

Emily turns to look him.

"Do you remember if Casey unlocked when he came home?"

"I don't know. I was sleeping."

"So all we have is an unlocked window and your theory that a little girl did 'something' to Casey." Raph glared at her.

"So maybe it wasn't a girl. But _someone _did something!"

"Like what? He's just unconscious. It was a tough night; he probably just decided to sleep in the hall, not being able to make it to his bed."

"No," she shakes her head. "That's not it." She closes her eyes and thinks hard. "She moved forward, running, and it looked like, like she put her hand on his chest." Emily opened her eyes. "Than he went down."

Raph looks more annoyed than ever. "I don't believe this." He repeats.

"He's still on his knees," observed Mikey. "You didn't move him?"

"He's not exactly a feather weight." She says tartly.

Mikey kneels down, so he's face to face with Casey. "He looks like he's sleeping."

"Would ya stop rambling?" snaps Raph.

"Do you think Donnie could figure out what's wrong with him?" he says thoughtfully.

"No, because there's nothing wrong with him." Emily opens her mouth to her object. "Look, we'll help you get him to bed. God knows Casey sure as hell isn't easy to carry. And after that, me and Mikey here are going back to the lair."

"But-"

"No buts," says Raph sternly. "If anything else goes wrong, than give us a call. Okay?"

Emily looks like she might object, than thinks better of it. "Okay." She says stubbornly.

"Good." He turns to his younger brother. "Grab the arms. Let's get this behemoth to bed."

~*~

The pair don't stop running until they reach central park. Breathing hard, the girl sits down on a bench. The moon is high in the sky, lighting the empty park.

"It didn't work," she gasps. "Something was still blocking me."

The cat looks up at the girl. She looks right back. "What do you want me to do, Master?" she asks expectantly.

The cat blinks. It crouches, and it's yellow eyes become lighter. The cat seems to grow, to expand. It's fur shifts and turns to flesh. The tail disappears, and the ears move to the side of the head, not the top. Fingers and toes pop out of the paws.

There kneeling beside the girl, is a young man. He has shaggy, curly black hair and grey eyes, to match hers. He has no shirt, no shoes. The shorts he wears hang to his knees, and are ripped and dirty. He's thin and muscular.

"We wait," he says. "That was your fifth try. You won't get through."

"But it worked with the turtle," she insists. "Just give me another try-"

"No," the man says harshly. "The turtle was different." He looks up at the moon. "We'll have to do this differently."

"How?" she says, a little stung.

"Like I said, we wait. We'll get to her when she's alone. It might be harder than it used to be, due to that little incident."

Her face is blank. Than suddenly, "Oh! You mean Casey Jones." She pouts as the severity of her actions sink in. "He was in the way, he was blocking the exit. It's not like I could jump through the window. He would have caught me as I tried to get it open. Besides, there's that drop." She pauses, seeing the expression on the man's face. "It's high up!"

"Remain inconspicuous! Isn't that what I told you?"

"But I can't change like you can." The girl looks close to tears. "I'm sorry, Master."

"I know," he sighs. "When will he wake up?"

"I don't know," she says softly.

The young man sighs again. "That may work in our favor." He begins to pace.

He seems to be lost in thought. The girl doesn't say anything, and looks at the black sky. The moon is bright, and it hurts her eyes.

"So we wait," the child says.

The young man nods his agreement.

~*~


	13. Chapter Twelve

"Oh, my God." Donnie mutters, starring at the letters before him. "Oh, my God."

It was impossible. It had to be.

"Leo!" he yells, not turning away from the computer. _"Leo!"_

The blue clad turtle (who wasn't blue clad, due to the fact he had taken off his bandana) runs inside the lab, coming from his bedroom half asleep and out of breath. "What is it, Donnie? What's wrong?"

Donnie moves away from the screen. "Look at this."

Leo rolls his eyes. "Come on Donnie. Man, I thought there was really a problem."

"Leo," says Donnie seriously.

Leo looks at his brother. He notices her looks anxious, confused. He leans in towards the screen, so he can better look at what's causing Donnie to freak out.

"Oh, no." Leo breaths.

"Can I talk to her now?" the turtle asks.

Leo nods. "I think you better."

Donnie reaches for the phone.

"Isn't it a little late right now?" asks his older brother.

When the door to the lair opens and closes, they both look at each other. Leo steps out to see who came home.

"And where did you two go?" he asks, regarding his little brothers.

Raph opens his mouth to tell Leo to shove his inquiry where the sun don't shine, but Mikey answers first.

"We went to Casey's."

Leo looks confused. "Didn't you just see him?"

"Well, ya." Says Mikey. "But Emily called, saying something was wrong with him."

"What's wrong with Casey?" asks Donnie, coming to the living room.

"There was nothin' wrong with him," says Raph. "Emily just got over excited."

Donnie looks curiously at his two brothers. "About what?"

Raph sighs, annoyed. "She said a girl was in the apartment, and when Casey saw her, she jumped up and put a palm on his chest." He rolls his eyes. "Which knocked him out."

"A little girl?" asks Donnie. "Highly unlikely."

"That's what I kept saying, but Emily insisted it was real." He heads to his room, so he can get some sleep. "But if you ask me, she was confusing reality with a dream she was having."

When Raph closes the door to his room, Mikey says, "But she did seem really worried. And Casey wasn't moving."

Leo looks at his youngest brother. "Don't worry about it, Mikey. I'm sure Casey is fine."

Donnie nods, lost in thought. He had to speak to Emily.

~*~

Emily woke up the next morning on the coach. Her head hurt and there was a horrible taste in her mouth. She stretched out the kinks that had developed in her shoulders and neck, than went to see if Casey had woken up.

He hadn't.

Emily went to the bathroom to get some aspirin. God, her head hurt. It was always hurting.

She walks to the kitchen to fill her nagging stomach, but when she gets there, she finds she can't eat. She sits at the table, starring into blank space.

A tap on the window make her eyes focus, and she turns. The black cat is on the ledge, requesting permission to enter.

Emily stares at the mangy stray for a full minute before getting up and opening the pane of glass. The cat jumps in. He looks around. After he looks at the girl, he turns and trots out of the kitchen, looking back to make sure she's following.

Shaking her head, Emily trails the cat. It leads her to Casey's bedroom. It jumps up to the bed and sits down at Casey's feet, looking up at her expectantly.

Casey was still lying on his back, where Raph and Mikey had positioned him. The look of serenity was still on his face.

Emily turns to leave. She doesn't want to watch her uncle in this state. The look on his face is creepy, not like the man at all. It unnerves her.

The cat follows her out, and jumps in front of her path, causing her to come to a stop. She raises her eyebrows.

"Move, cat." She commands.

The cat stays where it is.

"C'mon."

She tries to walk around the thing, but it just blocks her again.

"I'll step on you," Emily threatens.

The damned thing just looks amused.

Suddenly the phone rings, causing her to jump. The cat looks lazily in the direction of the noise, but allows the girl to pass so she can answer it.

"Hello?" she asks, picking up the phone.

"Hi, Emily, it's Donnie."

"Hey, Donnie. How ya been? Haven't heard from you in a while."

The cat had comes in behind her, and decided to make his way to the open window to leave. When he jumped up, he turned to look at the girl one last time, and jumped down. Emily had long since stopped wondering how he could do that at such a high distance.

"I heard Casey wasn't doing so well," Donnie continues. "What happened?"

She sighs. "I'm sure Raph could give you a wonderful play by play if you asked him."

"But I want to hear it from you."

"Why?"

"Because Raph doesn't believe something's wrong; you do."

"I woke up to Casey yelling about something," Emily looks out the window. "A little girl I hadn't noticed before jumped at him. She seemed to put a hand on his chest, than she ran past when Casey fell." Emily pauses. "I know it was a little girl, Donnie. Raph doesn't believe me, but I know what I saw."

"What did the girl look like?"

"Just that she was small with blond hair. It was really dark."

"Did she say anything?"

"I don't know. She might have. I was still half-asleep and in my own dream."

"A dream? What was this dream about?" Donnie asks suddenly, barley letting Emily finish her sentence.

"Why's that important?"

"Humor me."

Shaking her head, she says, "I was in my father's study. Books where everywhere, flying around. I noticed there was a girl in front of me. She tried to speak, but couldn't."

"Have you been having that dream often?" He sounds concerned now.

"Well, ya." Silence meets her on the other end. "They're better than my old dreams, Donnie. Much, much better."

"So, there was a little girl in your dream, and a little girl standing next to you in your room?" he sighs loudly.

"Donnie?" she's thoroughly confused.

"Stay where you are. We're coming to get you and Casey."

"But Donnie, Casey's not exactly awake right now. Weren't you listening?" But the phone had already gone dead.

~*~


	14. Chapter Thirteen

After searching for a whole week, all Donnie had found on "The Dream Sequence" was an old children's book from the early eighteen thirties. It was about a queen being able to manipulate dreams, and in light of the circumstances, it made Donnie uneasy.

According to Emily, Casey had collapsed after being touched by a little girl, who was in Emily's room doing God knows what. Plus, that dream he had about another little girl (were they the same?) didn't seem like it had come form his subconscious.

What was worse, however, was that Donnie felt Emily was in the middle of all this. He didn't know how, but he was going to find out.

After hanging up the phone he went to find Leo. He wanted to go to Casey's right away, if not to see for himself that Casey was okay, than at least to get his questions answered all the sooner.

Leo had other plans.

"We can't go now," he said as soon as Donnie proposed the idea. "It's too light out. We'll have to wait 'til it's darker."

"We've done it before. We haven't been seen."

"But we almost were. No matter how much you want to confront Emily, you'll just have to wait."

"Leo," he pleaded.

"No, Donnie. Just wait." And with that, Leo turned and entered the dojo.

The young turtle watched him go. He knew his brother was right. Going out in daylight was too dangerous, and no matter how much Donnie was haunted by that shroud of mystery, it just wasn't worth it.

Sighing, he follows Leo's lead and trudges to his lab, knowing he won't be able to concentrate on anything he does.

~*~

Emily sat on the couch watching mindless infomercials and children's cartoons when she heard a taping on the window. She turns and sees Mikey, smiling and waving, asking to be let in. Turning off the TV, she stands and walks over. She undoes the latch than scoots to the side so the turtles can hop in. Donnie looks grim, and he's carrying a large brown duffle bag. Leo's face is identical.

The hours waiting to make their visit seemed to drag by for both of the turtles. They had no idea how the girl before them was going to react to what the brainy turtle had found, and that worried them the most. For their part, Raph and Mikey hadn't the slightest clue as to what was setting their brothers on edge, or why the atmosphere was so tense.

When the last turtle went through the window, Emily decides to leave it open. Dusk had just fallen over the city, and it had been a cool October day, promising to be a cooler night. Emily had never been bothered by the cold. She hoped the same could be said for her present company.

"I guess I can't be too mad at you for not coming right away," she says turning away from the window. "I bet travel gets hard, only being able to go out at night."

Before anyone can answer, she turns to Donnie. "It's been too long. For awhile there I thought some one locked you in your lab and threw away the key."

Donnie nods. "Is Casey alright? Has he woken up yet?"

If Emily's surprised by his lack of good humor, she doesn't show it. "No, he hasn't. He's just lying on the bed with that bizarre look on his face."

He nods again and after depositing the bag, heads to the room, Leo following close behind.

Sighing, Emily sits on the couch next to Mikey. "Don't worry about it," he says reassuringly while reaching for the remote. "If Donnie can't fix it, no one can."

Raph plops himself down on Emily's other side. "Any idea why Leo and Don are acting so strange?"

"No clue," she answers. "I have no idea at all."

~*~

Donnie walks into Casey's room. He sees the man lying on his bed. Walking over, he sees Emily was right. You can call Casey a lot of things, of tranquil wasn't one of them.

"Do you really think there's something wrong with him?" asks Leo from the other side of the bed.

Donnie reaches for the man's wrist, checking for a pulse. "I'm afraid I do."

"Could a child truly have done this?"

"Under the right conditions, yes." Donnie thinks back to the children's book.

"Whatever's wrong with him, you'll be able to make him snap out of it, right?"

His younger brother sighs, shaking his head. "I hope so, but if who I think did this really did do this, it'll be hard to say."

"Who did you think did this?" Leo looks over at his brother worriedly.

Donnie looks right back. "It's hard to say," he repeats cryptically.

Leo shakes his head. "Fine. But what's wrong with him?"

"He appears to be sleeping. I can see no other evidence to claim otherwise. The bruising around his eye was from the fight he was in the other night, correct?"

"Ya, Raph and Casey cornered some street punks, but were caught off guard when they called for back-up."

"Than all the intruder did to him was merely knock him unconscious. What ever they did was simple, but effective." Donnie straightens and heads to where the others wait patiently.

"So what do we do?" Leo asks, catching up.

"As far as I can tell, we wait." Donnie looks behind him at his oldest brother. "He doesn't look like he's in pain, so we don't have to worry about that."

Leo sighs, and looks behind him one last time. "I hope your right."

~*~

Emily stands up when the two re-enter the room. "Well?" she asks impatiently.

"As far as I can tell, his vitals are in good shape. All we can do is wait for him to wake up."

"If he wakes up," she mumbles. She walks to the kitchen. "Anybody want something to drink?"

A chorus of no thank you's trail behind her as she walks to the fridge. Grabbing a soda, she goes back to join the turtles. Donnie and Leo had joined their brother and where standing nervously around the sofa.

Donnie looked agitated and was wringing his hands. Leo was looking at his feet.

"Something wrong?" she asked sitting back in her open place between Raph and Mikey.

Donnie sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Emily, there's no subtle way to tell you this, so I'm just going to jump in. Remain calm, though, okay?"

Emily raised her eyebrows as Donnie went digging through the bag. When he pulled out a manila folder, she looked intrigued. "What've you got there?"

He pulled out a lone piece of paper, looking bleak. "I'm sorry, Emily, but," he pauses handing the paper to the girl. He had been waiting for this moment for what seemed like an eternity, even if it was only since the night before. Now that it had finally come, he was at a loss for words. "But you're adopted." He blurts out.

"What?" says Raph. "Adopted? No way."

"Dude, that's a little harsh, isn't it, Don?" Mikey shakes his head.

"Donnie opens his mouth to defend himself and his findings, but before any sound comes out, Emily says something first: "I know."

The air stills; nothing dares move.

"You know?" asks Donnie quietly.

Emily hadn't taken her eyes of the paper Donnie had given her. "Yeah." She finally looks up into the bewildered face of the turtle. The corner of her mouth twitches. "I wasn't that young, you know."

"So you remember your real parents?" asks Donnie cautiously.

"No," she admits. "But I remember meeting David." A smile breaks out. "He was the nicest person I had ever met."

"Well, that would explain Casey not meeting you until you were what, seven?" Raph reaches for the paper in her hands. "What's this?"

"Her birth certificate. It took a long time to find it."

"So," Raph looks it over. "Your real name is Emily Marie Wilson. Your real parent's names are Isabel and John Wilson."

"Birth parents." Emily says automatically.

"Birth parents?"

"David and Helen are my real parents; not these strangers."

"But they didn't conceive you. If you ask me, they're the strangers." He argues.

Emily stares him down. "We don't have to share blood for me to be their daughter. Surely you of all people would understand that." She says, throwing the words at him like carefully aimed arrows. Emily was referring to the fact that these four turtles had a rat for a father.

Raph looks abashed and shies away from the fiery gaze that's drilling a hole into his skull.

"Wait," says Mikey, seeming to catch something. "Casey doesn't know?"

Emily shrugs. "I guess not." She's trying not to show it, but they can tell she looks worried.

"I'm sure if you were good enough for his brother, you'll be good enough for him," says Raph, trying to make up for the previous comment.

Emily ignores him, still stung, and says, "Donnie, how did you find this? I thought all my records were destroyed."

"It's complicated. I got suspicious when you reacted the way you did when you were told your mother died of an attempted robbery. Your father died from one too. I thought it was too big of a coincidence (especially when you acted like you did) so I went digging. I didn't find much, and on a whim, I started looking for other people who died from robberies in the past ten years." He paused for a breath. "After several dead ends, I found a doctor who died about six years ago."

Emily, who had reclaimed the certificate from Raph, was gazing at the names while only half-listening to what the turtle was rambling about. "Doctor?" he head snapped up, the paper in her hands forgotten. "Doctor Roberts?"

Donnie nods, confused by the sudden out burst.

"He's dead, too?" she says faintly.

Donnie nods again. "Attempted robbery. I found some interesting thing while going through his files. I figured they would be deleted upon his death, but luckily, they weren't." He starts going through the folder, looking for other long forgotten documents.

At this point, Emily isn't listening. She gets to her feet, and shakily, she walks out of the apartment. No one stops her, being too confused as to what's causing her strange behavior.

~*~

The gates, cold and rusted in the October air, creak open with a moan of protest. Emily slips through the gap. She looks around at the slabs of stone. Some are unkempt; protruding from the ground, seemingly held up by the weeds that cling so desperately to their feet. Most however, are clean and well cared for. These are the ones that haven't been forgotten.

Emily walks through the silent night, towards her destination.

She knows she shouldn't be here. The wrong kinds of people know she visits this place regularly. That cat, for starters, and the little girl probably knew too. But where else can she go? Emily is tired of only hurting the people who want to help her. Besides.

No one can hurt the dead.

Finally, she reaches the cold marble that serves as a marker. She presses her hand firmly to the words carved in the stone. _David Jacob Jones_.

The air smells crisp, fresh.

She has that familiar feeling of being able to breathe that crisp, fresh air.

"Hey, Dad," Emily whispers. "It's been awhile, huh?" She sits down on the cold, hard earth. "He was the nicest guy, never making promises he couldn't keep." Sighing sadly she asks, "Why didn't you tell me Dr. Roberts died? What else haven't you told me?" Her questions hang in the dead air, starring her in the face.

She stares hopelessly at her hands, placed so carefully in her lap. Tears swim in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. She's grown so tired of crying.

~*~


	15. Chapter Fourteen

After Emily closed the door, the turtles sit in silence. Donnie breaks it, looking confused and remorseful. "I thought she knew."

Leo sighs. "Not much we can do about it now."

"What was it you found, Donnie?" asks Raph. "In the Doc's stuff?"

Donnie picks up the papers he printed off. "Well, from what the records show, Emily has undergone multiple sessions of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. She's given bone marrow, had lymphocytes drawn, and has donated granulocytes."

Blank looks appear on his brother's faces, and their eyes glaze over.

"They're treatments. Common treatments for leukimiea. From the looks of these, she was going in twice, sometimes three times a week. But it doesn't make sense. Bone marrow, lymphocytes and granulocytes are needed if the patient has any hope at all for survivial." He flips through the pages. "If she has leukimiea, there is no way she would donate such vital tissue."

"So what does it mean?" asks Mikey, not comprehending.

"It means the records are wrong." Says Raph. "If what you say is true she'd of kicked the bucket by now."

"I don't think that's the case," says Donnie. "I think it's covering something up."

"And what would they cover up?"

"I don't know." Donnie admits.

"Okay, say that is the case," Raph says now. "Just how did you find her birth certificate? How do you even know it's Emily's?"

"After finding the medical records, I got curious. So I went looking for more people who could be connected in all this."

"By seeing who died in a robbery?" asks Mikey.

"Yes, except I widened the search. Emily's around seventeen, right? I went looking for any mysterious deaths in the past seventeen years. I found a woman."

Raph shakes his head. "And what does this have to do with anything?"

"She died in a robbery, and was said to be survived by her two children and husband." Donnie hesitates. "She looked just like Emily."

He pulls out a picture of a smiling women, and sure enough, it's like starring into the furture. She has longer hair than Emily, but the color and curls are the same. Her eyes are deeper than the girl, but are cerulean blue all the same.

"Two children?" asks Mikey, confused.

Donnie nods. "Emily and Derek Wilson. The report said Emily was four, Derek was nine."

"Wait – Emily was four? What happened to those three years before she went to live with David?" Raph looks up from the picture. "What happpend to the other kid?"

Donnie just shrugs. "I have no way of knowing. The article doesn't say what happened to either of them or – what was his name? John?" He looks over at the birth certificate, lying on the coffee table."But there's no mention of his death anywhere, so I can only assume he's alive." He collects the papers he had taken out, staking them neatly. "And he disappeared after Isabel died, completely off the map. He took his kids with him, too."

"For a few years, anyway." Mutters Leo. "I wonder what happened?" he muses.

"Like I said before: no way of knowing."

"Unless we ask her," says Raph.

"Would she even remember? She said she doesn't remember her real parents," says Mikey.

"We can try can't we?"

"Do we even know where she went?" retorts the young turtle.

"Yeah, where she always goes when she's upset. To visit her dad." Leo stands from where he had been sitting. "I'll go get her. You guys stay here."

"Sure thing, Fearless Leader," says Raph in a bored voice.

Leo rolls his eyes and jumps through the open window.

"Who wants some pizza?" pipes up Mikey enthusiastically.

He recieves a glare from his older brother.

"Can't you think of anything else?" asks Donnie, sounding tired.

"Sorry," he grumbles. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Donnie frowns.

"Somethin' wrong?" asks Raph.

"No, I'm just tired." Says Donnie. He sighs and sits down on the couch.

Mikey plops down next to him. "Well, if pizza won't cheer you up, than watching some mindless TV will." He smiles and reaches for the remote.

Donnie sighs and shakes his head. "I wonder if you can actually feel your brain liquify." He says as Mikey turns the TV on. Donnie didn't have much time for television, and when he did, he preferred the news.

"Don't know 'till we try it, right?"

Raph sits down next to Donnie. "They'll be back soon, and we'll get our answers." He turns to look at his brother. "That's what you want, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Mikey flips through the channels. After a few moments, Raph gets up to check on Casey. Together, they wait for Emily and Leo to return.

~*~

Emily wraps her arms around her. She didn't think to grab a jacket before leaving the apartment, and she's getting cold.

She looks up at the moonless sky. She can't see any stars, and the only thing eluminating anything around her are the street lights at the entrance of the cemetary.

The trees rustle as a late night breeze sweeps through them. Emily shivers. God, she's cold. Sitting on the hard ground swimming in a pool of darkness certianitly isn't helping.

A twig snaps, causing Emily to jump. She turns to the where the sound might have came from, but she can't seem to pinpoint the origin. The darkness is thick, and it hurts her eyes to try to see what doesn't appear to be there.

The hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge, like she's being watched. Her breathing quickens to the point of hyperventilating. _Get a hold of yourself, _she scolds._ It's nothing._

She stands and whispers a good bye to her father. Emily walks to the entrance of the graveyard. She feels silly for storming out like she did, and going to see her father didn't help her mood one bit. She was still depressed and angry. And cold.

Emily reaches the gates, but she still has that feeling. She looks around, but it's useless, even with the light from the poles just feet away.

Feeling more paranoid by the minute, she starts to head home. The only sounds are her footsteps hitting the pavement. She quickens her pace, focused on getting back to the apartment.

When she reaches the building, she forgoes the door and just climbs up the fire escape. It's quicker, and she's freezing.

Emily closes the window as soon as her feet hit solid ground. Turning, she sees Donnie and Mikey sitting on the couch. "Where's Raph?"

"In here," he yells from the kitchen.

"Is Leo in there with you?" she calls, going to her room to grab a sweater.

There's a pause. "No," he says uncertainly.

Emily stops. "Than where is he?" She looks around.

"He's supposed to be with you," says Donnie, looking worried.

"With me?"

"He went out to bring you back," says Raph coming out of the kitchen. "You didn't see him?"

"No." Her mouth has gone dry. "But it's really dark out there. He could have just missed me." She stammers.

Donnie nods. "Maybe." He looks at the clock. "It's only been about fifteen minutes. I'll call him on his shell cell and tell him you're already home."

Mikey and Raph watch in silence as Donnie tries to contact their brother. Emily fidgets.

Raph looks out the window, into the dark, dark night. "How far could he have gone?"

Donnie pulls the phone from his ear. "There's no answer." He says quietly.

Raph shrugs. "Than we go look for him."

Donnie nods. "He was heading to the cemetary, so we'll start there."

"But you won't find anything," blurts Emily. She had gone pale. "You won't find him."

"What are you talking about?" asks Mikey. "Sure it might be black outside, but we're ninjas, you know. Nothing gets past us easily."

Emily shakes her head. "You don't understand."

"What are you talking about, Emily?" asks Donnie, taking a step closer to the girl in front of him.

She takes a deep, steadying breath. "What do you know about the Dream Sequence?"

~*~


	16. Chapter Fifteen

"It's a children's book," says Donnie immediately.

Emily shivers. She still hadn't put on a coat.

"A picture book?" says Mikey, sighing with relief. He even chuckles. "You really had me going there."

Emily ignores him, and says, "It's not only a children's book." She walks to the couch and sits down. Donnie had stood up, but Mikey was still there. "How did you guys get to be who you are?"

"Excuse me?" Donnie's taken aback by the sudden question.

"You know. How did you, uh, mutate? That's what you are, right? Mutants?" she looks at the floor, not looking at any of them. "At least I think that's what Casey said."

"Yeah, we're mutants," says Raph. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"But how did you become mutants?"

"To put it simply, it was mutagen. It fell on us when we were babies." Says Donnie.

"Did it hurt?" She's still addressing the carpet.

"Not really. A slight tingling sensation, maybe." He thinks for a second. "It's hard to say. We were young, you know?"

Emily has an unreadable expression on her face. "The Dream Sequence isn't only a book." She pauses.

"Emily?" asks Mikey.

She looks to the turtle sitting to her side. "It doesn't make much sense when I say it out loud, and most of my facts are just speculation, anyway."

"Emily," It's Raph who speaks this time. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"A man entered the house one night when I was really young. He said something to John, that's his name, right?" When Donnie confirms, she says, "John nodded, took my hand, and we left. Just left. No coats, no shoes." She resumed starring at the floor. "But the man didn't.

"When Isabel saw him, she went as white as a sheet. I remember catching the look on her face as the door shut behind me. John put me in the car, and we drove away. I never saw her again, and shortly after the car ride, I didn't see John either."

"I thought you didn't remember your parents," asks Donnie suspiciously.

"I don't," Emily shrugs. "It's just that one memory of either of them."

"So, he just dropped you off somewhere and never came back?" he asks.

"No, not quite." She turns her gaze to the ceiling, and leans back. "It was a project."

"You mean The Dream Sequence?" asks Donnie.

Emily nods.

"Wait a minute," says Raph. "What the hell is the Dream Sequence?"

"A story," says Donnie.

"Yeah, I got that part. Why is it so damn important?"

"It's a story about a queen who has the power to manipulate dreams." Says Emily.

"Right, and her power was tremendous." Adds Donnie. "She kept the land peaceful and prosperous."

She nods, looking at the turtle. "Only her brother was jealous of her power."

"It didn't help that he was cruel and merciless."

"No," she agrees. "So he devised a plot to overthrow his sister from her thrown and take it for himself."

"He took the queen's most loyal and faithful subjects and turned them into monsters. Horrid beasts." He starts to pace.

"'He was as smart as he was wicked,'" she recites, looking at the turtle. "'How sweet the irony for the queen to be ruined by the ones closest to her.'"

"Yeah, only the plan backfired."

"He couldn't control the beings he had created."

"Instead of turning on the queen, they turned on everything else." Donnie shakes his head. "They would have destroyed the whole kingdom if the queen didn't step in."

"She put them all into a deep sleep, because there was nothing else that could be done." Says Emily. "As for her brother, he was locked into an eternity of nightmares. Always crying out, but never waking."

"Seems a little harsh," says Mikey.

Donnie turns to look at him. "He had just tried to destroy the kingdom, Mikey. Besides, evil deeds in fairy tales are always punished in an extreme manner."

"And this one was no exception." Says Emily. "The story ends by saying the subjects, who had been so loyal to the queen, were put into a secret chamber of the great palace, where they dream of happier and better days."

"That's a nice story and all," Raph says sarcastically. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"John read me the story almost every night when I was little. He loved it." Emily looks back at the ground. "It fascinated him."

She hears Raph sigh.

"I was one of the first in the program. I later found out there were a lot of people involved. At least a dozen scientists and doctors, I was told." She closes her eyes, trying to remember. "But for a while I thought it was just us: me and the doctors who came almost every mourning."

"Program?" Donnie stops pacing. "What program?"

"The Dream Sequence." Opening her eyes, she turns to the turtle. "Like I said, it's not just a book."

"What kind of program was it?"

"It was like I woke up one day and I was there. No warning, no preparation." Emily bites her lip. "But I was really young. I probably just didn't notice."

"Emily," Donnie repeats. "What kind of program was it?"

"That place became my home, you know. The little memories I had of my birth parents slowly became replaced."

"Emily."

"Not that I enjoyed it. I mean, all the shots and injections." She rubs the inside of her arm remembering. "Ouch."

"Emily." It's Raph who speaks her name now. "What did they do to you?"

Emily looks at him. Almost all impatience is gone from his voice. She turns to look at Donnie, who's been standing still. Next, she looks to her left, at Mikey.

"The brother created monsters. The book never said how, you know, not exactly." She looks back at the floor. "I wonder if it hurt when he changed them."

"Why would that matter?" asks Mikey.

"Because it sure as hell hurt us."

"What? What hurt?" asks Raph.

"The injections," says Donnie. "The doctors."

Emily looks at him. She nods.

"They were creating mutants. They're own mutants."

"'They'?" asks Raph. "Who the hell are 'they'?"

"I don't know." Says Emily. "I only saw the doctors."

"Did they plan it all?" asks Donnie quietly.

"No. There was someone hiring the people." She looks back down. "The scientists were the ones creating the mutation, I think. The doctors just put it in us."

"So they didn't know what they were doing to you?"

She shakes her head.

"You sure don't look like a mutant," says Raph.

She ignores him. "We each got our own rooms. It was impersonal; the rooms were just replicas of hospital rooms. There was no TV either, so there was absolutely nothing to do but stare at the white walls. Or sleep. It was easy to sleep."

Emily sighs. "One night, I had a high fever and I couldn't sleep. I had been suffering from high temperatures for at least a week. I was hot and thirsty." She trails off remembering.

After she doesn't say anything for a minute, Mikey nudges her. "What happened?"

"Plastic cups. They didn't allow glass in the rooms; a hazard or something. I was thirsty and went to get a drink from the sink in the bathroom. I touched the cup. I held it in my hands." Emily closes her eyes, thinking back. "It melted."

"Melted?" says Raph incredulously. "It melted?" he rolls his eyes in frustration. "We could be out looking for Leo, and you're wasting our time with make-believe and fairy tales!"

"I told you, you won't find him," She snaps. "He's long gone!"

"How do you know that?" he yells back.

"Because that's how they work! They take what's precious and disappear."

"How do you know it's them? How do you know?"

Emily opens her mouth to yell back, but Donnie cuts in. "Raph! Calm down!"

"Leo's out there somewhere Donnie!" he growls. "I won't sit around and do nothing."

"Just try. We have to trust Emily."

"I don't tru-"

"Than trust me." The two brother's stare at each other. Finally Raph looks away and glares out the window, into the black night.

"Emily," Donnie says a little shakily. "What about the cup?"

"It melted. Not completely, but enough to freak me out. Naturally, I started screaming." She looks from Raph to Don. "I flung it away from me, and backed up quickly. I wasn't paying attention, and backed in to a coffee table by the bed. It was made of wood, and when I touched it, it singed. It turned to ash in my hands.

"I couldn't stop screaming. At that point, I didn't know what they were doing to me, to us. I jumped back from the table, and fell to the ground. I wrapped my arms around me, trying to comfort myself and calm down." She looks at her hands. "My gown caught fire."

"Than what happened?" asked Donnie. He hadn't moved.

"I started rolling around, trying to put the flames out. I was screaming. As you would expect, someone heard me and came to check it out. I felt my gown being lifted above my head. I was still flailing about when someone grabbed my arms.

"It was a woman. She had long black hair, and brown eyes. She was a scientist there, and she had just gotten off her shift. She said her name was Rebecca. She wanted to know what was going on, so I told her."

"Did she believe you?" Asks Mikey.

"She'd been having suspicions that something wasn't right. The fire and my story seemed to confirm it for her." Emily shakes her head. "She got me a new gown and put me to bed. It was the best she could do."

"How did she fix the fire problem?" asks Donnie.

"She disappeared for a second with explicit instructions to not touch anything. When she came back she wrapped something around my hands. It was a fire-retardant cloth. Polyester, I believe. It itched, but it worked."

"So Rebecca discovered what is was she had been doing?"

Emily nods enthusiastically. "And she got me out. She came back the next night, and the next, making sure I was okay and hadn't hurt myself. About a week after we had met, we left. We walked out of that building and never turned back." She smiles. "A week after that, she brought me to David."

"Wait a minute," says Donnie, confused. "Your mother died when you were four. Presumably, that's when you entered the program. You went to live with David when you were seven. That's three years."

"Three years?" says Mikey, shocked. "You spent three years in that place?"

Emily shrugs. "I can't explain it. I went in and than I came out." She runs a hand through her hair. "Rebecca didn't think it was strange. Or at least, she didn't talk about it. She didn't talk about a lot of things."

"What about Doctor Roberts?" asked Raph, tight lipped. "What role does he play in all this?" He hadn't moved one inch, and he was still starring out the window.

"David talked to him. I don't know what was said, but we went to the hospital where he worked." She paused. "The medical records, did you see those?"

"Yeah, they didn't make much sense." Admitted Donnie.

Emily nods. "Dr. Roberts said we had to call the sessions something, or people would get suspicious."

"Excuse me?"

"He was taking the mutation out. It was radiation, or something. I almost refused to go; it hurt twice as much to have the crap taken out then it was to have it put in.

"But after a couple days, I could take the wraps off my hands. After a couple months, we didn't go in as often. It took a couple years for the sessions to stop completely."

"Mind if I ask something?" Raph doesn't wait for an answer, and just plows ahead. "Why did you freak out when you found out he died? From the sounds of things you stopped seeing him."

Emily opens her mouth, than closes it again. "It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Because they didn't die from robberies. David, and Helen, and the Doctor." She says it so quietly, they can barely hear her. "It's not that simple."

~*~


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Emily put her head in her hands. She didn't say anything else.

"Than what did they die from?" Donnie finally asks.

"If you've been listening, you should know the answer to that," she says, her voice muffled by her hands.

"The doctors," Donnie guessed. "They came after you."

"Not the doctors; the things they created." Emily lifts her head, and turns to look at the turtle. "Sort of, I guess."

"Emily," says Mikey, unnaturally serious. "This sounds important."

Emily sighs. "I need help, guys. I don't want help, and certainly not from you. But I need help."

Donnie's taken aback. "Why?"

Emily looks at him for a long time. "I was fourteen," she begins.

~*~

"_Dad? I'm home," she called, walking through their front door. It was late, the sun just going down._

_It had been eight years since she went to live with those people. Those strangers. But they were kind, and for that, Emily was grateful._

_She heard movement above her head, banging and crashing around. She heard glass breaking. "Dad?" but it came out barely above a whisper. Her mouth had gone dry._

_It seemed to be of their own accord when her feet moved her towards the staircase. With each step she took, her head was telling her to run, to leave that place as fast as she could._

_It was agonizing, walking up, up. "Dad," she choked out. The struggle was louder the closer she got. It filled her ears. The door to her father's study was closed, and she slowly pushed it open._

_He was on the ground, on his knees. There was a long cut on his cheek that stretched to the jaw and a gash was on his stomach, along with several varies other cuts and bruises. Dark red blood was pooling beneath him._

"Dad!"_ Emily could feel tears pooling in her eyes, but she held them back._

_Standing over his beaten form was a woman. She had long black hair, hanging down her back like a curtain. There was a knife in her hand._

"_Emily!" said the man from the floor. _"Run!"

_When the woman heard the door open, her head snapped toward it, toward her. Emily gasped. While the face was familiar, horribly familiar, the eyes certainly weren't. They were white. Egg shell white. Milky white._

_The woman turned so her entire body was facing the girl. She raised her arm, the one that held the bloodied knife…_

_Emily wanted to scream, but no sound could be forced out. How could she scream when she could barely breathe?_

_The women came closer, and she struck. A wild swing with the point of the weapon, but where she lacked in expertise, she made up for in speed._

"Emily!"_ The man couldn't move. He could do nothing but watch as his daughter was struck down._

_Out of pure reflex, Emily shifted out of the way, pivoting on her heels. Instead of the blade cutting her chest, it just nicked her upper arm. Emily gasped and fell to the ground. It was a small cut, but it stung. It was bleeding, too._

_The women swung back, and Emily held up her forearm to block the blow. This time, the girl wasn't so lucky. The cut was deep, hitting its mark dead on._

_Emily was breathing hard from the loss of blood. _This can't be right,_ she thinks. _I can't be losing blood this quickly. _But she was._

_Emily tried to stand, but her head felt so lightheaded. She made it only to her knees. She groaned. The woman advanced. She raised the knife, preparing to bear down on the girl._

_Emily groaned again, than fell. Collapsed, more like it._

_But she heard wind-chimes. Sweet, musical, wind-chimes. But no, that wasn't possible. It was glass._

_The window had shattered, sending glass flying every which way while creating the sound. A silhouette had stood in the frame. She couldn't see who it was, or maybe she just doesn't remember._

"_P-p-pleeese," she slurred. "P-p-ple,"_

Run! You have to run! She'll kill you too._ She tried to say it, but she couldn't. Her words were lodged in her throat, forced into hiding by the cruel, cold metal._

"_Emily," her father says again. _"Emily."_ She pulled her father's voice around her like a shield, protecting her from any harm. She takes his words, every single one he had ever spoken, and quickly, too quickly, she falls into unconsciousness, bringing him with her._

~*~

"Rebecca," Donnie says, stunned. "Rebecca killed your father?"

Emily nods, once again starring at her hands. "When I woke up, I was in the hospital, my mother beside me. She wouldn't tell me, but I knew."

"Knew what?" asks Mikey.

"That my father was dead, of course." She sighs. "But I'm tired of the whole 'family angst' thing. And I'm tired of those damn bastards killing everyone who comes in contact with me."

"Something doesn't seem right," says Raph. "Why would Rebecca kill your father, and try to kill you?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, she went back to the lab, back to the…experiments."

"Again, why?"

"She probably just wanted to see if she could help anyone else."

"Guess not, huh?"

Emily glares at Raph. She opens her mouth to retort, but Donnie interrupts.

"Do you know who it was that broke the glass that night?" he says hurriedly.

"No. Mom didn't know either." She looks at Donnie. "But who ever it was saved my life."

Donnie nods. "Her eyes were white, you say?"

"Yeah."

"Interesting." Donnie looks out the window, thinking hard.

"Why do they care?" asks Raph suddenly. "I mean, you said you weren't the only one in the program. Why would they give a rat's ass about some brat that got away?"

"I don't know," says Emily coldly. "I never stopped to ask them."

"Fine, but that was years ago. Why care _now?"_ he presses.

"I don't know," she raises her voice slightly. "I was just some brat, remember?"

"All the more reason to leave you alone."

"Enough, you two. Emily," he turns to her. "That girl, who did that thing to Casey."

"What about her?"

"Was she in the program too?"

Emily looks thoughtful. "It's definitely possible. More than likely, really. But if she was, she would have had to come way after I left." She turns to look at the bedroom, where Casey still slept. "But if she was, he might not wake up," she said softly.

Donnie nods. "Are you sure they nabbed Leo? It's not like him to get captured."

"It's only been an hour, Donnie." Says Mikey. "He could just be lost. I mean, it is dark out."

"That's not like Leo, Mikey, and you know it." said Raph in a low growl.

The young turtle looks slightly desperate. "Can we at least wait until morning? He might come back."

"Raph's right. It's not like Leo, and it'd just be a waste of time." Donnie turns to Emily. "If what you say is true, staying here is no longer safe. We need to get you out of here."

"And where am I supposed to go?"

"With us, of course. Now, Raph," he says, addressing his older brother. "Can you take Casey back to the lair? I want to see if I can wake him up."

"And just how are you going to do that?"

"Send shock waves to the brain: see if I can't activate the parts that are no longer active, things like that. It can't hurt to try."

Mikey sighs. "I guess you should go pack a bag, Emily." He smiles encouragingly. "You've never been to our place, have you? You'll finally get to meet our father."

Emily nods and starts walking to her room. "Sounds great," she says, sounding exhausted.

"Emily," Donnie calls. "As soon as you're ready, we'll leave."

Emily nods, and slips into her room to pack.

~*~

The girl is sitting on a bench in the park when the cat appears. It's several more hours until the sun is expected to set.

"Master," she says, standing. "What happened? You're back early."

The cat had shifted, and there stood the young man with dark hair and deep grey eyes. "The turtles called. Considering the circumstances, I can't be surprised they contacted her." His eyes flash with anger and he takes a swipe at a nearby tree. "I almost had her! Damnit!"

"Master," the girl says soothingly, taking a step closer. "You can go back. They can't do anything until night."

"No," he says harshly. "We've lost our chance. We won't be able to get her alone anymore." He runs a hand through his long, shaggy hair. "I'll just have to think of something else."

The girl nods. Her own grey eyes take in the man before her. His anger seems to be fading. "Will we have to wait longer?"

He doesn't answer right away. "No," he says finally, thoughtfully. "Maybe not." He looks at the girl. "We'll see what they do. Than we'll just have to act accordingly."

The girl nods. "Yes, Master," she murmurs.

~*~


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Emily looks around her room. She can hear the turtles talking in the living room quietly. She ignores it and reaches for her backpack. She picks up a pair of jeans, a couple shirts and her pajamas, along several pairs of clean socks and underwear.

Climbing on her bed, she untapes the picture that's stuck to the wall above her headboard, and slips it into the front pocket of the bag. Emily skims her book shelf and chooses the book of poetry from its depths, the one her step-brother gave her. She hadn't opened it since the day she came to Casey's, maybe even sometime before that, but it was nice to have at hand anyway.

After the clothes and book went in the pack, there wasn't much room left, but it wasn't like she really cared. She felt detached from worldly possessions at the moment.

Before Emily left, she turned to look out the window. It was still pitch black. Sun rise wasn't for another couple of hours. As the girl looked through that window, it seemed as if the very world ended after the pane of glass.

Sighing, Emily grabs the bag and heads back to join the turtles.

She sits down on the couch, waiting for Raph and Mikey to emerge from Casey's room.

"Ready?" asks Donnie from somewhere behind her.

"I suppose."

"Good." He positions himself in front of her. "We've decided that we'll move you before we try to move Casey. It'll take forever to drag him to the lair, him being over two hundred pounds of dead weight at the moment. It'll be faster and safer if I take you there first, than come back to help Raph and Mikey."

Emily nods. "Fine."

"Glad you agree." Taking the packs, his and Emily's, he helps her up and together they move to the window.

"So, do I just follow you?" she asks, making her way to the roof after she climbed through the opening.

"You can try, but you won't get very far from up there."

"Why? Don't you guys travel by rooftops?"

"Usually, but I'm afraid that at the moment, heading down is easier. It's safer too."

"Down, as in the sewers?" she asks cautiously.

"What, did Casey never tell you?"

"He might have brought it up."

Despite himself, Donnie smiles. "Well, there aren't any alligators hiding in there, despite what the legends might say."

"Isn't that nice to know," she grumbles, lowering herself next to the turtle in the alley.

Together, they head to the rear. Donnie lifts up the manhole cover. "Ladies first."

Emily just looks down the hole. She didn't think it was possible, but it was even darker than the night. "There are stairs, right?"

"God, Emily. Just go down, will you? Nothing's going to pop out and get you."

Sighing heavily, Emily did as she was told. There were no stairs, but she successfully found the ladder. Slowly, she lowered herself down until she felt her feet hit the stone. She stepped away to allow Donnie to land.

"You relive your father's death without shedding a tear, without any emotion, I might add, but you're terrified to go down a simple manhole?" He asks in disbelief. "Seriously, Emily. There isn't anything down here."

Emily grumbled something incoherent.

Donnie brings out a flashlight from the duffle bag around his arm. Flicking it on, he motions for her to follow, and together they make their way through the sewers.

"You want me to carry my bag?" she asks as a way of making up.

"No, thanks. I got it." he answers. They move on in silence.

"How far away is the place?" she asks after a moment or two.

"If you stop moving at a snail's pace, we'll get there in about fifteen minutes."

"I don't like enclosed places. So sue me." She replies tersely.

He looks behind him, where she's stationed herself. Her arms are folded tightly across her chest, and every sound that echoes across the walls cause her to jump and look around wildly for the source.

"You can walk in front of me," he offers.

"Walking into the unknown? Into certain doom? No thanks."

"But what if something's sneaking up behind us? What will you do than?" he asks, feigning innocence.

Emily glares daggers at him. "Don't you have more important things to worry about, besides tormenting me?" she snaps.

Donnie becomes serious. "Yes, I do. We'll be at the lair in about five minutes, by the way."

"Fine."

Donnie looks straight ahead, following the bright path the flashlight is carving in the dark.

Finally, they reach the entrance to the turtles hide out. After opening the door, Donnie walks in and dumps his burden in front of the couch. "Stay here, alright?" he says turning to Emily, who followed him in.

"Where else am I supposed to go?"

"Just stay here." He turns back to the door he came through, but a voice calls him back.

"Donatello," it says, "Where are you going? You just got here."

Emily looks at the source, and she can't stop looking. Casey had told her that the turtles' father was a giant rat. But she still managed to be surprised when she saw him up close. If the girl's steady gaze bothered him, he didn't show it.

"And you brought a guest." He bows respectively. "You must be Emily Jones."

She remembers herself and clumsily bows back. "Yes sir. In the flesh."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Jones."

"Pleasure's all mine," she says silently, with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Splinter raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything. Instead he looks around, noticing the lack of noise. "Where are your brothers?"

"Back at Casey's. I'm on my way to go get them." He says, excusing himself. "We'll be back in a matter of minutes."

Splinter nods. "Be safe," he murmurs as Donnie slips out. When he's gone, he turns towards the girl. "I assume you were brought here because something's wrong."

"Is it that obvious?" she asks as she slinks down to the coach.

"The anxiety in Donatello's voice, the apprehension in yours. Tell me child, what has happened?" he asks, suggesting with his hand that she follow him into the kitchen. "Can I offer you a cup of tea?" he asks when she joins him.

"No, thank you," she declines politely.

"Do you not favor it? I'm sure Michelangelo has some of his - what do you call it? Hot chocolate? - mix somewhere."

"No, thank you," she says again.

Splinter stops rummaging around in the cabinets and looks at the girl. "Very well." He joins her at the table. "Will you tell me what has happened? I have a feeling it is of great importance."

Emily, who had previously been looking down at her hands, chances a glance at the rat before her. "You could say it's important, yes," she says in a horse voice.

Splinter nods. "If you would please start at the begging, Miss Jones."

Emily takes a deep breath, and begins her story just where he had requested: the begging.

~*~


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Donnie climbed up the fire escape and went through the window, which he had left open. He finds Casey has been put into a sitting position on the couch, Mikey and Raph beside him.

"What took so long?" asks Raph.

"Hello to you, too." Donnie walks over and checks Casey's pulse. "Ready to go?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," says Mikey, standing up. Raph does the same, and grabs Casey from under his arm.

Donnie nods. "Let's get going then."

~*~

"I was born in June, I believe." Emily starts. "I remember vaguely parties by a river, or a creek. I think it ran through a park. Yes, there was a park." She closes her eyes. My mother, Isabel, was beautiful, and I remember I wanted to be just like her."

Splinter nods. "Do you look like her?"

Emily frowns. "I can't remember."

"What about your father?"

She opens her eyes and focuses on the rat. "It's hard to explain the man. John seemed distant. Whenever I wanted him, he was somewhere else, off with somebody more important than me."

"Isabel and John?" asks splinter, catching on. "Aren't your parent's names Helen and David?"

"Helen and David are, I guess you could say, my adoptive parents. They took me in, after John left me."

"You're not very fond of him are you?"

"I don't think of him as my father, that's all. I never knew him." Emily folds her hands. "He took me somewhere, dropped me off and never came back. I don't know why."

"What of Isabel? Didn't she come for you?"

"I think she was dead at that point." She thinks about it. "Yeah, she was dead." She says it softly, regret and sorrow in both her features and voice. "Before you ask, I don't know how she died, not exactly. Donnie says the final report claims it was a robbery."

"You say it like you don't believe it."

"Well, it's hard to. Casey's brother, David, he died from a 'robbery,' as did his wife, and Dr. Roberts." She looks at the table. "They weren't robberies, you know."

"Yes, I assumed so." When Emily doesn't say anything, Splinter asks, "What really happened?"

"Have you ever heard of The Dream Sequence?" she asks reluctantly.

"No, I can't say I have."

"It's this program set up by some unknown person to do some unknown thing with genetically altered humans for an unknown reason."

"So you know nothing of this organization?"

"Well, I know it's name, I know I was a test subject, I know the staff didn't know what was going on or what they were doing, I know it's a big secret, I know, or at least, I think, John might have something to do with it-"

"Okay, okay," says Splinter, putting his hand up to stop her rambling. "You just don't know the major details." Emily nods. "What was that about John, though?"

"He dropped me off at the location where the experiments took place. I don't know if it was head quarters or not."

"You keep mentioning experiments."

Emily nods again. "This unknown person has injected an undetermined amount of people with mutagen. It worked too, although I didn't see any results until after a couple years, for another unknown reason" She unfolds her hands, still looking at the table. "But a woman, Rebecca, got me out of there, and brought me to my father."

"David Jones," Splinter confirms.

"They got the mutagen out somehow, Dr. Roberts and Dad." She pauses. "I was normal. The next few years were happy."

"It didn't last," he guesses.

"No, it didn't." she looks up from the table and settles her gaze him. "I was coming home from the library when I felt someone watching me. It's unsettling, especially when no one's there. I kept expecting some one to jump out from the shadows, but no one ever did. When I finally made it home, I heard a commotion in my dad's study. I went to investigate. I already had a feeling of who was there, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I had this feeling that The Dream Sequence wasn't going to let me go. I was right, as it turned out."

"So they killed your father?" he asks quietly.

"Not they: her. Rebecca came back, and," she stops and takes a deep breath. "She wasn't herself, though. Her eyes were pure white, and she moved as if she were stiff." She takes another steadying breath. "She would have killed me too if someone hadn't burst in through the window and stopped her."

"Did you see who it was?" asked Splinter.

"No." Emily leans back in the chair. "When I woke up, I was in the hospital. When I was released, Mom and I moved to Rhode Island almost immediately. It was there Mom met Brad and got remarried. We lived in a big house, with several cars and my step-brother and I went to good schools."

"Sounds nice." Emily recognizes something in his voice.

"It just wasn't good enough. Dad was dead, and I guess I as mad at mom for getting remarried only a year after Dad died." The girl begins to fidget. "Than out of the blue, mom sent me here for the summer. It sure surprised me, because she's always hated Casey."

"Speaking of Mr. Jones, does he know that you're not his blood relative?"

"No," She shifts uncomfortably. "Dad never told him. I just might have to though, cause I don't know how else to explain this mess. That is if Donnie can wake him up."

"Wake him up?" he asks, as his eyebrows rise.

Emily sighs. "Well, there was this little girl. Don't give me that look! It was a little girl. She was in my room one night, and Casey caught her. She jumped at him, pushed his chest, and he went down."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"And he hasn't woken since?"

"No," she runs a hand through her curly hair. "It's only been about a day, but he hasn't stirred at all."

"So," he says. "Someone out there put you through something unsavory, but you don't know who, or why."

"Yep."

"They killed your father, your mother, and attacked Casey."

Emily nods.

"And," he continues, "You seemed to have involved my sons in this mess."

"Hey," she says, "I didn't ask for them to help me." She thinks for a moment. "Well, maybe I did, but that came later."

Splinter chuckles. "They do have a way of butting in."

Emily doesn't answer. She's looking at the table again with a forlorn look on her face. "Is something wrong, Miss Jones?"

"I," she stops. Emily looks hopelessly at her hands, at the table. Anywhere but at Splinter. "I might as well tell you now, so you know."

"Tell me what?"

She hesitates. Takes a deep breath. "I think they have Leo."

He doesn't say anything. It appears as if he isn't even breathing. Finally, he says very softly, "So, these Dream Sequence people have my son?"

Emily nods sadly. "I think so, yes."

Splinter is about to reply, but the opening of the door stops him. "Master Splinter," Mikey calls. "We're home!"

Splinter lifts himself from his chair and goes to meet his sons in the other room. Emily trails behind.

"I assume you bring Mr. Jones here with you?"

Donnie nods. "So Emily explained everything than?" he says as Mikey and Raph place Casey on the couch. He still looks peaceful.

"She did, for the most part."

"The most part?" asks Raph, raising his eyebrow.

"Leonardo is missing." States the rat simply. "Donatello, do you have any way of tracking him?"

"I can try activating the tracking device in his shell cell."

"Please do that. Raph," he says, as Donnie scurries away. "Please move Mr. Jones to the appropriate place."

"I'll help," pipes up Mikey. Once again, the two turtles hoist Casey up and drag him to Donnie's lab.

"Miss Jones," Splinter says when they're gone, "How dangerous are these people?"

"Well," she thinks back to everything she had experienced. "I honestly don't think they would hurt Leo," Emily says carefully. "I mean, he's already a mutant; what more could be done?" She tries to smile reassuringly, but it falls flat.

There's no expression on the old rat's face. Finally he nods. "It's late, child. Get some rest."

"But-"

"You can take Leo's room at the moment, since he doesn't seem to be using it." He continues, as if she hadn't spoken. There's also heaviness in his voice, as if his very body and soul were being dragged down. But maybe they were.

Emily doesn't answer as she watches him walk out. She assumes he's going to go mediate. She's been told he does that often.

Sighing, she sinks to the couch. She stares at the blank screen of the TV in front of her. It's been a long day, and she was exhausted. She felt guilty and sad, which she was sick and tired of feeling.

She stretches out on the couch, not bothering to change. She had left Willie back at the apartment, but she had stopped sleeping with him years ago, so she only missed his company. Sighing, she puts her head down and closes her eyes. After what seems like a long time, she falls into a deep, fitful sleep.

~*~


	20. Chapter Nineteen

_She's in the hall again. Her head hurts. When she reaches the door, it's open. She walks through the doorway and finds her dad sitting at his desk. His head is down, and he seems to be concentrating on a stack of papers before him. A vase of flowers sit at the corner._

"_Dad?" she asks. "What are you doing here?" He had never before shown himself in this room, in this dream._

_He looks up, and she gasps. His eyes are white. An unreadable smile plays at his lips. "I'm so glad you could join us," he says._

_But that's not his voice. Whose voice is it? It's much too high for David Jones._

_She hears the door shut behind her. She tries to see who has entered, but whoever it is grabs her from behind before she gets the chance. He pins her down as her father stands up and walks around his desk._

_They're not in her father's study anymore._

_They're in the hospital, the smell of sterilization and bleach so strong it makes her eyes water. Her father is walking towards her, a syringe in his hand. He's still smiling._

~*~

Emily wakes up, smothering the scream in her throat. Her brow is wet with sweat, and she's finding it hard to breath. She can't seem to remember where she is, or how she came to be there.

She forces herself to take ten deep, calming breaths, and looks around. She's in a room, in a bed. Her body is tangled in the sheets, just more proof of her restless night. She sees a rolled up mat in the corner, and a box of candles on the night stand next to the bed. There's some Japanese calligraphy on the walls, but other than that, the room is bare.

Emily rubs her head, still clueless. Than it hits her: she's in Leo's room. Some one must have moved her from the couch and dumped her in here.

Sighing, she disentangles her legs from the bed and stands up. She walks to the door and continues on in the direction she hopes is the kitchen. She could use a glass of water.

She reaches the living room, and finds Mikey on the couch reading a comic book. "Good morning," she says, making a beeline for the sink.

"You mean afternoon," calls Mikey.

Emily hunts down a glass and after filling it with the cool, clear liquid, she walks back to join the turtle. "Whatever," she says sitting down. "Where are Donnie and Raph?"

"Donnie's in his lab and Raph is in the dojo."

"Anything happen while I was sleeping?"

Mikey shrugs. "Donnie found the location of the shell cell."

"Really? That's great. Where was it?" Emily turns her full attention to the turtle.

"It was in the graveyard."

"Where?"

He glances at her. "Seriously. In the cemetery." He puts down his comic book. "Are you hungry?" he asks standing up.

"A little," Emily admits.

"Oh, good, cause I'm starving." He walks into the kitchen and she follows. "I was thinking pancakes. Sound good to you?"

"Pancakes?"

"What?" he asks, smiling. "Still opposed to breakfast?"

She mumbled something and sat down at the table with her glass in her hands.

Mikey starts rummaging through the cupboards. "Pancakes it is."

~*~

Donnie had found the location of Leo's shell cell in the cemetery. At first it had scared him, made him think his brother was dead. He wasn't, but it didn't stop Donnie and Raph from rushing to the gates to retrieve the device.

"Split up," said Donnie, a little out of breath. "Call if you find anything."

Raph just nodded, heading off towards the left while his brother took the right.

They didn't search long. Donnie called for Raph after half an hour.

"Find something?" he asks, running over.

"Yeah." He points to the gravestone he's standing in front of. The shell cell sits on the grass at the foot of the marble.

"That's weird," says Raph, reaching down to pick it up.

"Look at the name."

"The name?" he looks at the engraving. "Creepy." David Jones blares out at them like a spotlight. "What do you think it means?"

"They're trying to send us a message," says Donnie thoughtfully.

"Like what?" asks Raph sharply. "That Leo's gone the way of Casey's brother here?"

"No, no I don't think that's it." He stares at the stone, lost in thought. "I think it's a little more complicated than that."

Raph looks out at the horizon. "The sun'll come up soon. We should get back."

Donnie nods slowly. "Yeah, you're right."

~*~

"Oh, you're awake," says Donnie, walking into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. "How did you sleep?"

"Just fine," Emily says, turning to the turtle. "I'm going to guess you didn't rest at all."

He shrugs. "I need to find Leo."

"Speaking of which," she picks at the food on her plate as she speaks. "I heard you found the cell."

"Yeah, but it was a dead end."

"You found it at Dad's, didn't you?" she asks, no longer looking at him. Her head was bent over the uneaten food, her voice low.

"The grave? Yeah, actually." Donnie shoots a glare at his brother. Mikey shrugs, an innocent expression on his face.

Emily notices. "It's not that hard to figure out, you know." She looks at Donnie again. "What do you think it means?"

Donnie sighs. "I have a couple theories."

"For what it's worth, I still think Leo's okay," she says, not taking her eyes off him. "Where you found the cell, I think it means 'don't interfere.' Dad did, and look what happened to him."

"That makes since," says Mikey from the corner. "And look what happened to Rebecca."

"What did happen to Rebecca?" asks Donnie.

Mikey shrugs. "I thought you knew."

They both turn expectantly to Emily. "Don't look at me," she says. "I never saw her again after she attacked Dad and me."

Donnie leans against the counter, cup of coffee forgotten. "So she just disappeared?"

"As far as I know."

"Interesting," he muses.

"What are you going to tell April?" Emily asks before Donnie can say anything else.

"I hadn't thought about that," he says, rubbing his chin. "Probably nothing." He says after a moment.

"We can just tell her that you and Casey went on a trip," pipes up Mikey. "You know, to keep her out of everything."

Emily nods. "Sounds good." She picks up her plate and puts it in the sink. "I'll go ahead and call her," she says after disposing of the uneaten food and rinsing it off.

"What are you going to say?" Mikey asks, following her into the living room.

"That Casey took me to Rhode Island."

"Okay," He picks up the phone and dials the number. When he hears the voice of the red headed beauty, he hands the phone to Emily.

"Hello, April," she says. "Casey and I are thinking of going somewhere…"

~*~


	21. Chapter Twenty

Emily's sitting on the couch watching a movie when the door to the lair slides open. Turning to look, she sees Raph and Mikey walk through the entrance. "Hey, guys," she calls. "Welcome back."

Raph grumbles a hello and stalks off in the direction of Donnie's lab.

"Another dead end, I take it."

Mikey nods and sits down next to her. "It was just the Purple Dragons again."

Emily sighs. At this rate, they were never going to find Leo. It had been three weeks since he had gone missing. Donnie was checking the police reports, investigating robberies and heists, to see if material goods were what The Dream Sequence people wanted. It's didn't look like this was the case, because every time the turtles showed up at a scene, it was either common street thugs or the Purple Dragons.

And every time, the only mutants in sight were them.

It had also been three weeks since Casey had slipped into a coma, as Donnie called it. Mikey says he was pushed, but no one has had much of a sense of humor lately, so they all just told him to can it.

Donnie had tried sending shockwaves to Casey's brain, hopefully to jump start it, but to no avail. Donnie had also tried physical pain. This method was meant to shock the body into waking up, but it too failed. Donnie was just afraid of doing permanent damage to the man, whether it be with brain damage or infection from the open wounds.

He finally concluded that since his pulse was normal and his vitals were good, all that was wrong with Casey was that he had become a modern day version of Sleeping Beauty.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, more than once. "There's nothing I can do."

"We know," they'd all nod mournfully. "We know."

~*~

The movie ended. Mikey had fallen asleep on the couch again. Emily, not wanting to disturb him, moved to the kitchen. There she made herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table. It was late – around midnight. She hadn't been sleeping well lately, and chose to avoid it when she could.

Mikey seemed to be the only one who actually tried to sleep on a normal schedule. Donnie was drinking coffee by the barrel and Raph had all but moved into the dojo. Splinter was…well, she didn't see much of Splinter. He stayed in his room, meditating.

When she asked Mikey about it (he was the only one being social, as well) he said he was probably trying to reach Leo through his mind. "A deep connection," Mikey had said.

She munches on her cereal, staring into space. When she finishes, she puts the bowl in the sink, and walks back into the living room. She quietly makes her way to the coffee table to retrieve the book she had left there the day before, when she noticed the thin layer of dust that had developed in the couple of weeks.

She takes a closer look around lair. While it's by no means filthy, it's not exactly spotless, either. Blankets and movie cases are scattered across the floor. Emily hadn't noticed the dirty dishes that fill the sink.

Emily never liked living in a mess. Everything had to be neat and orderly, and the state of the lair obviously did not meet her standards.

She runs a hand through her hair, debating whether or not to start now, for the sake of her sanity, or to put it off 'till later, when Mikey was awake, and she could make as much noise as she wanted.

The girl stared at the turtle on the couch. He looked peaceful, at ease. It was rare to see Mikey like this anymore, due to the current circumstances. Smiling a sad, slow smile, she walked to Leo's room, to try to get some sleep, or maybe finish the book in her hands. She had nothing better to do. Her kamikaze mission could wait until a better hour.

Emily let the young turtle sleep.

~*~

Raph hits the punching bag mercilessly. The bank robbery had been the usual crowd, which pissed him off. He wanted a piece of these Dream Sequence guys, and they hadn't shown up since they took Leo.

He had already asked Emily where the hospital had been, but her answer was that she couldn't be sure if it really _was_ a hospital, let alone where the location was.

It didn't help that Casey hadn't woken up yet. Donnie had no idea what was wrong with him, or even if he could be cured.

To say Raph was mad was an understatement.

They had no clue as to what was wrong with his best friend. They had no clue where Leo was. They had no clue what the Dream Sequence's purpose is. While nowhere near as pressing, they had no idea what happened to John.

_Wait a minute._ Raph stops pounding on the sand filled sack. Emily had a brother. An older brother. How had he forgotten?

Well, the answer to that was simple, but Raph didn't stop to think; he was already on his way to Donnie's lab.

Not bothering to knock, he walks in and finds his brother at the computer. "Don," he says, interrupting whatever it is he's doing. "I just remembered something."

Donnie doesn't bother turning around. "What is it?" he asks, sounding bored.

"Did you ever find out what happened to the older brother?" Raph ignores Donnie's lack of enthusiasm.

"Older brother?" He looks over his shoulder at Raph. "What older brother?"

Raph roles his eyes and waits.

Suddenly, a light bulb seems to turn on in Donnie's head. "Oh! Of course!" he smacks his palm to his forehead. "How could I have forgotten?"

"So did you ever find out what happened to him?" Raph asks again.

"No, I had completely overlooked it." Donnie rubs his eyes. "I've been kinda busy with other things, you know?"

Raph nods. "What was his name?"

Donnie looks around his lab. "I have the article around here somewhere…" he begins to rummage around in piles of papers and documents.

Raph picks up a long forgotten gadget that's lying near by and starts tinkering with it.

"You want to ask her about it, don't you?" says Donnie, glancing over.

"It's just weird. The father takes the children after something happens to his wife, and they all disappear." He puts it down and picks up something else. "Do you think the kid was in the program, too?" he finally asks.

Donnie nods. "It's certainly a possibility. Considering what happened to Emily, it's more than likely, actually." He digs through another pile. "A-hah! Found it! According to this, his name was Derek. He was nine years old when his mother died."

"How old would that make him now?"

"About twenty-two, I think."

"If he's even still alive, that is."

"Well, that's one way you could look at it." Donnie looks down at the paper in his hands. "But I don't think he's dead."

Raph mulls this over, still playing with the thing in his hands. "I'm asking her," he says, putting it down.

"Raph, you can't just- Raph!"

The hot-head walks out mid-sentence and stalks down the hall to the living room. All he finds is Mikey sleeping on the couch. He turns and heads to Leo's room.

"Raph, maybe we should wait 'till morning," Donnie says, catching up. "It's awfully late…"

Raph ignores him, and barges in, again without knocking. "Emily, I need to talk to you."

She's sitting on the bed, the pillows propped up behind her. She's reading a book. "Good evening," she says without looking up. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah," says Raph. "Where's your brother?"

Emily raises her eyebrows, but doesn't look up.

"What he means," says Donnie hurriedly, "is what can you recall? He disappeared too, and I don't know what happened."

She slowly lifts her head. "Brother? What brother?"

Raph and Donnie exchange looks. "Figures," Raph mutters under his breath.

"You don't remember him?" Donnie asks uncertainly.

Emily stares at the two turtles. She shakes her head.

"Well, that sure is helpful," says Raph sarcastically.

She ignores him and asks Donnie, "What do you mean I have a brother?"

Donnie hands her the article he still had in his hands. "I would have brought this up sooner, but I kind of forgot."

Emily reads it slowly. "I don't remember. Not at all."

Raph sighs loudly. "I actually thought this was going to go somewhere. If you need me, I'll be in the dojo." He says, storming off.

Donnie watches him go. Emily's enthralled by the picture of the little boy.

"You really don't remember?" he asks.

"No," she looks up and meets the turtle's eyes. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know." He admits.

Emily fidgets. She looks around at the bare room.

"Something wrong?"

Emily looks at Donnie. "I have a habit of running away when I receive unsettling news. I'm sure you've noticed."

"I'm not certain if leaving the lair is a good idea." He says slowly.

"But what if one of you came with me?" Emily asks desperately. "I just need some fresh air."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt, if one of us came too." He debates. "And some fresh air would do you some good."

Emily smiles gratefully. "I'll go ahead and get dressed." She had changed into her pajamas earlier that night.

Donnie nods. "I'll go tell Raph we're going out." He walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

Emily stares at the door a full minute before moving. She had a brother. Who knew?

~*~

Donnie places the manhole cover back in its spot as quietly as he can. "We're not going to spend a whole lot of time out here, okay?"

Emily breaths in the cold night air. "Sure," she says, only half listening. She's too busy gazing at the stars, and the moon. Too busy feeling open space swallow her whole.

"Where to?" asks Donnie, dragging her back to reality.

She thinks. "You haven't met Dad yet, have you?" she looks at the sky again. "Let's go there, to the graveyard."

Donnie nods. "Okay. We'll go ahead and move through the alley ways. It'll be quicker and more efficient."

Emily makes a sweeping motion with her arm. "Lead the way."

Donnie set the pace at a light jog. She was able to keep up all right, but was winded by the time they reached the gates. After swinging them open, Emily led the way to the tombstone.

It was dark, but nowhere near as dark as the last time she had been here. She finds her father's grave easily, and sits down in front of it. Donnie stands behind her.

"Hey, Dad. Meet Donnie, the giant turtle." She says. "Donnie," she looks over her shoulder at him, "say hi to Mr. David Jones."

"Nice to meet you," he mumbles.

Emily giggles softly. "It's been awhile, Dad. I'd tell you where I've been, but due to certain, uh, complications, I'll just forgo the explanation and get straight to the part where I tell you I'm okay." She glances behind her again and sees Donnie staring into the trees, pretending not to listen.

Emily turns her attention back to the marble and opens her mouth to speak, but no sound has a chance to come out. Crumbling stone, as loud as any shot gun blast, breaks into whatever it was she was going to say.

"What was that?" she asks, standing. She looks in the direction she thinks the sound came from, narrowing her eyes in the darkness.

She turns to Donnie, and sees he's looking too, but he's gone stiff. He's wielding his boe staff, senses sharp, ready for anything.

Or, at least, almost anything.

Another gravestone has fallen to pieces, closer this time. Donnie grips his weapon. He can't see any one, but he can feel them.

"Donnie?" Emily whispers.

He motions for her to be quiet. He needs to listen…to pinpoint the location of the intruder.

A cold breeze sweeps through the night, making Goosebumps rise on the back of Emily's neck.

David Jones' marker bursts to pieces.

Emily shrieks and covers her head. A slab of stone hits her in the knee, causing it to buckle. She falls to the ground. All she can hear is the previous sound of flesh hitting cold stone. All she can see is the one who shattered her father's name, causing it to fall into bits at her feet.

"Emily!" yells Donnie, but she can't hear, can't comprehend. "Emily, run!"

It's Leo who stands over her. Leo, hand bruised, a single katana unsheathed. Leo, whose eyes are milky white and empty, drilling into the girl's blue orbs. It is Leo, who has come to kill her.

~*~


	22. Chapter TwentyOne

Time stands still. Not even the wind blows.

Emily vaguely hears a voice shouting, telling her to move, to flee, but she can't. She's frozen where she sits on the cold, hard ground.

_Emily,_ says a voice inside her head. _Emily, you have to go. You _have_ to _go_._

"Emily!" Donnie jumps in front of her just as Leo makes a swipe for where she lay, blocking with his staff. "Run!" he yells. Leo swings again, but this time he's zeroed in on Donnie.

Emily had never seen the turtles fight before. As she sees Donnie dodge and dive, she understands that he has no chance against Leo. After all, wasn't Leo the one who preferred training to anything else?

_Run,_ shouts the voice, urgently egging her on.

Emily jumped to her feet, realizing at last how dangerous the situation was. Ignoring the pain in her leg where the chunk hit her, she turns from the clashing turtles, and runs through the maze of gravestones. She could still hear Donnie struggling behind her.

She hears Donnie yell, but she doesn't turn around. She can imagine him lying on the ground, bruised and bleeding, but she doesn't stop. Emily can feel the tears well up, threatening to fall. What else could she do but flee? Donnie was a trained ninja, and he was no match.

"_Uh!" _Emily goes sprawling over the ground, having tripped over a gravestone. Her leg was already aching, and is now probably sprained, if not broken. _Get up_, she tells herself. Using the stone as a support, she pulls her body to its feet, only to have her leg buckle again. "God dammit!" she yells, closing her eyes. Her back is to the grave that tripped her. "God – _fucking_ – dammit!"

She's terrified. She's petrified with fear. Not only for her, but for Donnie, for Leo. Emily doesn't want to die. She doesn't want anyone to die.

Opening her eyes, she sees Leo has found her. Considering all the noise she was making, it probably wasn't that hard. He's expressionless. Those pearly white eyes glare at her, burning a hole into her head.

She knows it's hopeless, but she grabs a rock sitting near by. Holding it in her hand, she hurls it at the advancing turtle, hitting him right above his left eye.

He tilts his head, his face remaining unreadable. He's now only feet away from the girl. Clenching his katana in his hand, he raises it above his head, ready to bury it in her flesh. She can see blood dripping from the sharp, cold metal.

Emily closes her eyes, waiting for oblivion.

Bit oblivion doesn't come.

Instead, an ear splitting roar breaks through the night. Emily feels a sudden _whoosh_ of air as something large jumps over her and the marble she's resting on. Opening her eyes, she sees a tiger tackle Leo. A big, fierce, real – as – day tiger.

What the hell is going on?

~*~

"Hey, Mikey, move your ass," growls Raph, waking his younger brother, who was dozing on the couch.

"Hmmm?" Mikey yawns.

"Move your ass," Raph pushes Mikey from his spot. He lands with a thud.

"What was that for?" he asks rubbing his eyes. "I'm up, I'm up." He says hastily, seeing Raph start to advance again.

"I want to watch a movie."

"Got tired of beating up on the punching bag?"

"For your information, it broke." Raph glares at his brother. "I didn't feel like fixing it, so I decided to watch a movie instead."

"Fine, fine." Says Mikey, holding up his hands. "I'll just go talk to Donnie. I forgot to tell him that my shell cell broke, anyway."

"Donnie's out," says Raph absentmindedly, looking through the collection of movies..

"Where did he go?" asks Mikey, sounding surprised.

"Emily needed some air," he says, now messing with the DVD player. "So Donnie took her out."

The younger turtle thinks this over. He plops down on the sofa, rubbing his hands together. "So," he asks, smiling wickedly. "What are we watching?"

~*~

Emily watches as the tiger and Leo wrestle in the grass. Her whole leg is screaming with pain, but even if it weren't, she wouldn't have been able to move from her place.

She watches as Leo kicks the beast off him, than see him jump to his feet. When he was tackled, he dropped his swords, but now he calmly picks them up. The tiger is now on its feet as well, waiting for his next move.

Leo doesn't disappoint, and lunges, katana at the ready. The cat gracefully slides underneath the extended blades, swiping at Leo's leg with a massive paw. Not expecting the blow, Leo falls to one knee. His arms go flying in the air, but he maintains his hold on the hilts.

The tiger pounces, and once again pins Leo to the ground. Its paws are holding him in place while pushing down on his chest. It lets loose a deep throated growl, showing its teeth.

Emily is just about to call out when she notices a little girl about twenty feet away. Her silver blond hair seems to glow in the darkness. _It's her! _she thinks_. What is she doing here? _Emily didn't know how long she'd been there, but like Emily, she was watching the fight with such concentration, she couldn't be sure if the girl was blinking.

Emily was so busy watching the girl, she didn't notice when Leo, amidst his struggle to free himself from the grip of the tiger, had brought one katana down and buried it in the beast's shoulder.

The tiger roars and releases his hold on the turtle. Leo pushes it off of him and sits up. The cat stumbles, but crouches, ready to attack again.

"_No!"_ the little girl screams. She leaps forward, running into the fray. Emily isn't sure if she's protesting the injury or the fact that the tiger's up and ready for more, but before she can tell the girl to stop, she's jumped onto Leo's plastron. Quickly, so very quickly, she's wrapped her legs around the turtle's waist. One hand goes to the center of his plastron, right above his heart, while the other one is placed on his forehead.

Leo falls to his back once again, but this time there is no struggle. His body goes limp beneath the girl's.

No one moves. Not Leo, pinned below the child. Not Emily, her whole leg feeling like its bathing in fire. Not the girl, eyes closed and intent on whatever it is she's doing. Not even the tiger, with its shoulder bleeding, which is lying on the ground.

Whole minutes pass, and still, no one moves. Gradually, the girl's face relaxes. She withdraws her hand from Leo's head, but keeps the one at his chest where it is. She opens her eyes and speaks.

"Master," she says, in a high, exhausted voice. "I think it worked."

_Master? Who else is here?_ Emily looks around, expecting to see someone in the shadows, but no one appears.

"He won't be getting up soon," the girl continues. "It took a lot of energy though. He kept rejecting me."

_She can't be talking to me_, Emily thinks. _Who is she talking to?_

She watches as the tiger gets to its feet and closes the gap between it and the pair on the ground. Her eyes grow big as she watches the beast change. Its enormous paws slim and lengthen into human hands. Its head shrinks to show a man's nose, a man's mouth, and deep grey eyes. The orange fur shifts to show very real human flesh.

Standing next to Leo and the girl is a young man, with dark curly hair and a wiry frame. He's naked except for the dark shorts that come to his knees.

Emily's breath catches. This man. This child. They had to be in the program. The powers they were exhibiting couldn't have come from anywhere else.

"No matter," says the man. "You got him in the end."

The girl removes her hand but doesn't get up, so she's still straddling the turtle. "Are you okay, Master?" she asks, eyeing his shoulder.

The man nods. "It's not that deep, and it's already stopped bleeding." He offers his hand to the girl, and she gladly takes it. "Are you sure he won't wake up?"

"Yeah, he'll be down for awhile." She confirms.

The girl is standing next to the man, and both are looking down at Leo. Slowly, she turns her head to Emily. Frowning, she says quietly, "Well, Master, looks like you've got her alone at last."

The blood in Emily's veins runs cold. She doesn't like the sound of that. She doesn't like it at all.

The man looks too, and Emily notices their eyes are the exact same shade of gray.

He smiles a humorless smile. "Yes, it would look like I do."

~*~


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo

"Remember the plan," he says to the girl.

She looks up at him, than looks around at the grave yard. "The sun will be up soon, Master."

The man gives her a look. "I know. Remember the plan."

She nods silently, than starts jogging towards the exit of the graveyard. She looks over her shoulder once, pausing just before she disappears from their view. She focuses her gray eyes on her master, than on Emily, and lastly on Leo, still unconscious and still on the ground. The man watches her go, and is still staring in the distance when he finally addresses Emily, who remains at the foot of the gravestone, using it as a support.

"Donatello's alive," he says softly. "And so is this one here. Leonardo, you call him?" When he spoke his name, the man nudged the turtle with the end of his toe, at last tearing his gaze from the child's path. "Whether or not they remain that way is entirely up to you."

She doesn't speak for a moment. What could she say to a threat like that? The only move she makes is to pull her legs to her body, ignoring the pain, to try to warm her from the chilling breeze that has picked up suddenly. She reminds herself to keep calm. _Donnie and Leo are alive_, she thinks_. Donnie and Leo are alive._

Her silence annoys the man, and he says, slightly louder, "I would not suggest wasting my time, Emily."

"Wasting your time?" she says, barely audible, her voice cracking. "My friends are lying on the ground, more dead than alive. Hell, all I have to go that they are alive is your word that they are. Only God knows what's wrong with Leo. And that's not _even_ mentioning the fact that I can't move without my leg exploding with pain." As she spoke, her voice got stronger, and she got louder. "I'm damn sure I have bigger things to worry about than _wasting your time!"_

The man stares at Emily. The breeze softly blows her short hair over her face, but she makes no move to brush it away. She's glaring at the man, hatred the only thing readable in her eyes.

He doesn't seem surprised by her outburst. If anything, he seems amused. "When you put it that way," he says, smiling, "I suppose you do." He looks out to where the girl disappeared. "But we don't have much time."

Emily is still glaring at him, his attitude towards her situation just causing her to get angrier. "Than I suppose," she said icily, "you'll just have to kill me now, to save your precious time."

This does surprise him. "Kill you," he says chuckling a little. "Why on earth would I kill you?" he turns his gray eyes on her face. "I'm sure you've figured it out by now that the black cat and I are one and the same. How many times have I been able to kill you? How many opportunities have you and the turtles left open for your demise?" He starts counting on his fingers. "The times you came and went from April's, going to and fro from the graveyard, visiting your dear father. Hell, even all the times you left the windows open while you slept." He's staring angrily at her now, all humor gone from his features. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be long gone by now."

Emily's throat has gone dry. He was right, after all. The black cat – him – had followed her everywhere. "Than what is it that you want?" she asked, all anger gone from her voice, leaving only fear, which causes it to crack.

The young man studies her for a moment, than looks down at Leo, still at his feet. When he speaks, his voice is calmer too. "There's something you need to know. Something of the utmost importance." His voice is even, and he doesn't look up from Leo's face as he speeks.

"What is it?" asks Emily, more curious than she would like to admit.

He slowly raises his head, making eye contact. After a moment, he says, "Your mother isn't dead."

~*~

She ran through the streets, hesitating at each and every man-hole cover she came to. When she came to the one nearest her destination, she carefully opened it and climbed down the ladder.

When she reached the bottom, she trotted through the sewers until she came to the entrance of the lair. Opening the door, she could see that most of the lights were turned off, excluding the one in the kitchen and what she could remember as being Donnie's lab.

She closed the door without a sound and walked to the couch. Peeking over the back, she saw that Mikey was stretched out, his mouth hanging wide open, drool pooling on the pillow. She smiles, and surveys the room bathed in darkness, the only light coming from the TV. The room is filled with the sounds of the action flick that is playing, and Mikey's snores.

Her eyes are drawn to the couch again, and the turtle that lies on it. _Stick to the plan, _she thinks. But this wasn't part of the plan. She wasn't supposed to waltz in unnoticed. She's pondering how to set of the security alarms when she notices the light turn off in the kitchen. In the darkness that follows, she senses someone walking across the floor, towards the couch.

_Who could that be?_ Her question is answered when she hears an irritable voice.

"Fell asleep?" Raph pokes at his younger brother. "You're the one who wanted to watch this movie so badly, you know."

From the glow of the TV, she can see Raphael, his hands on his hips, looking down on his brother. A slow grin crosses his face. In one smooth motion, he's pushed Mikey from the couch and jumps in his place.

The girl stifles a giggle as Mikey hits the floor.

Bewildered, the young turtle looks around. "How'd I end up on the floor?" he asks, gathering his wits.

"Beats me," says Raph from the sofa.

Mikey yawns. "Oh, look. A movie." He pulls himself to the couch and sits by Raph's feet.

Raph rolls his eyes.

The girl is sure he responds, more than likely in the form of a slap to the head, or an insult, but she's tiptoed to the lab and didn't hear what he had to say. In the lab, she sees Casey laid out on the table, a pillow under his head and a blanket over his body.

She walks over, and puts her hand over his eyes. Closing her own eyes, she sinks into Casey Jones' dreams. Sure enough, they're just as she had left them. Flashing images of smiling children, blooming flowers, of rainbows and kittens. She smiles at how cheesy it is, how absurd.

But after all, she needed to leave the apartment, and sending Casey to this world was all she could think of. She just didn't mean to make the sleep so powerful.

She withdraws her hand and looks in the direction of the living room. She can still hear the movie. Turning her attention back on the man, she places a hand at his chest. When she applies pressure, Casey's eye lids flutter. Again, she takes her hand away, and Casey stirs, sitting up.

He looks around the lab, seeming to see through the girl. He looks down, and sees wires on his chest and an I.V. drip in his arm. He rips out both, causing the heart rate monitor to flat line.

She smiles as the TV is suddenly muted. "What's that?" she hears Mikey ask. _Oh, Michelangelo, _she thinks, smiling.

In a flash, the two turtles come running to the lab. She's still smiling when they reach the doorway. They're eyes are instantly drawn to Casey, whose still wiping the sleep from his eyes. When he sees them, he smiles, saying. "Hey guys. What am I doing here? Somethin' happen?"

They stare, jaws hanging on the floor. Than Mikey notices the girl in the corner. "Who are you?" he asks.

Casey puts his feet on the floor, and stands. He turns to where Mikey is looking. "Hey," he's glaring at the girl, recognition filling his eyes. "Hey," he repeats, louder.

The girl starts giggling, her laugh filling the room. Casey, still not sturdy on his feet, makes a lunge for her. She easily side steps him as he falls to the ground and makes her own lunge towards the turtles, who are blocking the door.

"Don't let her touch you!" yells Casey. Obediently, Raph and Mikey step out of the way to let the girl pass so they won't come in contact with her.

"Mikey, follow her," demands Raph as he rushes over to help Casey.

Mikey tears out of the room and follows after the girl like he was told. _She's quick,_ he thinks. She's already out of the lair; she could even be on the surface for all he knew.

Casey gratefully accepts the hand that Raph offers him. "I'd thought you'd have gone after her and told Mikey to stay behind." He says, trying again to catch his balance.

"Please," the turtle scoffs. "Mikey would've just put you back in that coma if he stayed. Besides, he's quicker than he looks." He lets go of Casey's arm. "The absence of brains might help with that."

Casey's smile is short lived. "Is Emily okay?"

Raph's eye ridge rises. "She's fine, as far as I know. She and Donnie went out a while ago." He glances at the clock Donnie keeps on his workbench. "Although I thought they'd be back by now."

"Raph-"

He cuts him off. "Stay here, okay? I'm going to go after Mikey and that girl."

"But-"

"No buts. We don't know what after effects that coma has. Stay here." He turns and runs out of the lab.

"At least tell me what's going on!" Casey yells after him.

When Raph gets to the door to the lair, he yells over his shoulder, "I'll explain everything when I get back. _Jut stay here_!"

Casey looks around the lab. Slowly, he walks out to the living room, to the movie that's still playing, but silent. He barley has the strength to stand. "Where else would I go?"

~*~

"What do you mean my mother isn't dead?" Emily demands, her voice still cracking. She thinks back to the funeral she didn't attend, to the weeks spent curled in a ball and surrounded by self-pity.

Before continuing, the man studies her face carefully. "I don't mean Helen," he says, rolling his eyes. "I mean Isabel. You're birth mother."

"But-"

"It's come to my attention that you believe her to be dead. She isn't."

"And how would you know?" she asks. For some inexplicable reason, she's getting angry again. "What do you know about my parents?"

The man pauses, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps this isn't the information I should be telling you." He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "But maybe it's just the wrong time."

Emily pulls her coat tighter around her. The way he's looking at her, like he's reading her very thoughts, is unnerving.

"Let's change the subject, shall we?" he asks, smiling again. "The Dream Sequence. Heard of it?" when Emily nods hesitantly, he continues. "As I'm sure you're aware, we were all part of its horrendous experiments. Luckily for you, you got out clean. However, Annabel and I didn't."

"Annabel?"

"The girl," he says. "What? Didn't know she had a name?"

"Okay, you smart ass," she says tartly. "What's your name than?"

He's just about to reply when, speak of the devil, Annabel pops out from behind a tombstone. "Master," she says, panting. Her fair complexion is flushed with red and her hair is plastered to her head by a band of sweat.

"Did they follow you?" the man asks, Emily completely forgotten.

She nods. "They're only a couple blocks behind. They'll be here soon. They're really fast," she says, her voice high and excited. "But don't worry, I was faster."

"Good." He turns back to Emily. "I'm afraid we'll have to cut this conversation short. I know I haven't told you anything important, but I'm afraid our time is up." He waves the girl away, and Emily watches as Annabel skitters off through the maze of gravestones. "But," he continues, "I will tell you one thing you might find of use. For instance, what's wrong with Leonardo here, and how to fix it." He again prods Leo with the tip of his foot.

"What?" she asks. "What's wrong with Leo?" her voice comes out sounding horribly desperate and almost as high as the girl's.

"All you have to do," he says slowly, too slowly for Emily's liking. "Is promise to meet me again. You don't even have to worry about the time and place."

"F – fine," says Emily, trying to get the words that have stuck in her throat out. "Fine, just tell what's wrong with him."

The man smiles a coy smile. "You have to promise first, Emily."

"I promise," she almost yells. "I promise to do whatever you want! Please, what's wrong with Leo?"

Satisfied, he runs a hand through his hair. "He's under the influence of a drug called L – M10." He focuses at a point somewhere behind Emily and smirks. "Asks Donatello what it means, I'm sure he'll know." Looking back at Emily, "That is, of course, if he's still alive."

As if on cue, a blur of metal flies past Emily's ear, heading straight for the man. He ducks, sensing its presence just in time. Following the throwing star, Raph charges the man, his sai drawn.

"I'll be seeing you, Emily," the man says clearly, clearly enough for Raph to hear it. Mikey can hear it too, just a few paces behind where Emily sits. Without warning, the man is replaced with a black cat. It weaves through Raph's open legs and disappears the same way the girl had, just moments before.

Raph glares after him. For a moment, Emily is worried that he'll follow him. But he doesn't. Instead, without turning around to face her, he asks, "You hangin' in there, Emily?"

She realizes she's shaking. She clenches her hands into fists to quiet them. "I'm doing okay." She takes a deep breath, relief flooding her body. "But I'm not sure if Donnie is."

Raph does look at her then. "Donnie? Where is he?"

"Um," she thinks, closing her eyes. "He's around, somewhere close, I think." This whole night has been so confusing; it feels as if her whole world had been right side up, only to find that right side up didn't seem to qualify anymore.

"I'll look for him," says Mikey softly, closer now than he was before. "Just sit tight, okay?"

Raph looks at Leo, still lying on the ground. "Looks like you found him, Em." He mutters, bending down.

"Yeah," she says weakly. "Lucky me."

~*~


	24. Chapter TwentyThree

Splinter is sitting in his room. Incense burns at his feet, but it is not the cause for the fog he is in. Splinter is trying to reach his oldest son, but he's being blocked. He's always being blocked.

Usually, he can reach any of his sons' minds without much effort. But, in Leo's case, something has subtly shifted. It's as if a shield has been built, closing off all outside contact, and shutting him out.

Something is pricking at the back of his own mind. Splinter ignores it, trying to focus, trying hopelessly to break through the wall…

The slight annoyance continues. It no longer feels like a prick. It's more like a jab, a push.

He can now hear yelling and a low thud as something falls to the floor. More yelling, which is followed by an eerie silence.

Splinter opens his eyes. Sighing, he stands up. He might as well see what caused this outburst, seeing as how he can't seem to contact his son anyway.

He walks into the living room to find Casey sitting on the couch, staring at his hands. He's sitting there waiting for everyone to return. He isn't quite sure who "everyone" entails, but he knows one thing: the lair lies vacant.

At least, he thought the lair was empty.

"Mr. Jones, it's nice to see you're awake."

The voice comes from behind Casey and nearly sends him through the roof. He swivels around in his seat and sees Splinter, cane in hand, already making his way to the kitchen.

Casey jumps up and follows him. "Splinter, God," he sputters. "You scared the hell out of me."

The old rat nods his head slowly. "That surely was not my intention." He rummages around in a cupboard. "Would you like some tea?"

"Uh, no thank you." Casey knew better by now than to ask for a draft.

Splinter takes a glass from the cupboard anyway and fills it with water, placing it down on the table. Casey sits down in front of it, mumbling a thank you. While Splinter is making his tea, he asks, "Is there something on your mind, Mr. Jones?"

Casey pauses for a second. He scratches his head. "What's going on?" He asks finally. "Where's Leo?" he takes a sip from his glass. "Raph and Mikey ran out of here, but that was to follow that brat."

"Ah, so that's what caused all that commotion. The mysterious child made it into the lair."

Casey nods. "And Donnie is with Emily. So where's Leo?"

Splinter sighs heavily. "Casey, I have much to tell you…"

~*~

"Over here," Mikey calls. "I found him!"

Raph straightens up and glancing at Emily, makes his way to where Mikey called. Emily, for her part, closes her eyes and leans against the stone. She is completely exhausted in every way imaginable. And her leg still hurts.

"He's alive," whispers a voice in her ear. She opens her eyes and turns to see Mikey crouched down, a wide smile in his face. "The damage isn't even that serious. He can walk."

His smile must be contagious, because it's not long until she's smiling a relieved smile of her own. "That's great."

Mikey's grin suddenly falters. "But there's a lot of blood," he says hesitantly. "Raph doesn't want him to walk anywhere, but Donnie says all he has to do is get to his lab-"

"And luckily, it's not that far away," Donnie finishes, coming up behind his brother. "And it's not blood, Mikey."

"Hey, Donnie," says Emily weakly, still smiling softly. She sees he's right. There's not a drop of blood on Donnie. Just bruises. Ugly, big, painful bruises, which cover a good percentage of his body. "Damn, you're like a walking rainbow." His body is littered in purple, green, black and yellow marks.

Donnie smiles. "What can I say? Give me a couple of painkillers and a _Popular Mechanics _magazine and I'm as good as new."

Emily shook her head. "I can't believe it. Doesn't Leo wield katana? I figured you'd be Swiss cheese."

Donnie tries to shrug, but winces in pain. "That's the weird thing," he says, rubbing his shoulder. "He used the back of the blades, so when he made contact, it didn't break the skin."

"That is strange," says Emily thoughtfully. "Why would he use such caution?"

"I don't know," says Donnie. "And than there's the fact that I've sparred Leo before. He could commit murder with a wooden sword, and I've felt much worse after our bouts than I do now."

"People in his situation usually don't hold back," murmurs Emily softly. Her thoughts fell to Rebecca, to the emptiness in her eyes as she advanced nearer and nearer…

"Hey," says Raph from a few feet away. "I hate to interrupt the conversation, but we need to go. The sun's starting to rise."

Emily tuned to the east, and sure enough, a rosy hue has started to bloom over the horizon.

Raph walks over to Leo's limp body and leans down. He pulls his brother's arm over his shoulder and lifts him up. "Let's go," he says, irritated that no one has moved.

Mikey stands up straight, and looks after his brother, who has already started walking out of the graveyard. Looking around, he notices something in the faint light he hadn't before. "Man, you guys really tore this place apart, didn't you?"

"Shut 'ur trap, Mikey and get moving," snaps Raph.

"Yeah, yeah." He turns to Emily, who hasn't moved forward either. "Need help?"

"Yes, please." She accepts the hand he is offering, and he pulls her to her feet. She staggers as pressure is placed on her bad leg.

Mikey reaches out to steady her. "Easy there."

"Emily," says Donnie, studying her leg from where he's standing, "I don't want you walking on that leg until I can get it properly looked at." He's remembering the chunk of stone that hit her when Leo appeared. Who knows what else happened after that?

"Okay," she agrees, just wanting to go home.

"Mikey, will you carry her to the lair? Raph's got his hands full and I'm in no shape…"

"Sure thing, Bro," Mikey bends down and gingerly picks Emily up in his arms. "Let's make Raph's day and head home, huh?"

Emily and Donnie both agree.

~*~

The door to the lair opens. Soundlessly, Raph drags Leo across the living room. He places him on the spot where Casey had been lying lifeless for the longest time. Mikey follows close behind, and after clearing a spot at Donnie's work table, sets Emily down.

"Thanks," she says. Her gaze takes a quick sweep around the lab, finally coming to a stop at Leo. Tilting her head to the side and looking very confused, she asks, "Where's Casey?"

"Right here, Em," Casey says from the doorway.

At first, all she does is stare at the man. Her posture straightens. Her mouth, previously hanging open in shock, snaps shut. "You're awake," she states finally, her eyes still wide.

Casey's lips curl into a good natured smile. "So I am."

"How?" Emily asks. "Nothing worked. Donnie couldn't-"

"It was the girl," he interrupts her. "She snuck in and woke me up. No clue how she got in, or why she would even bother."

Emily shakes her head absentmindedly, suddenly lost in thought.

Casey glances at the unconscious turtle. "Splinter will like to know he's back."

"Already been informed," says Donnie, sliding into the lab. "As you may have already guessed, that girl got to him."

"Annabel."

"Excuse me?" asks Donnie, curiously glancing at Emily.

"That's her name," she mumbled, looking down. "It's just feels weird calling her 'girl' when I know her name."

"I suppose that man told you," Donnie says studying her carefully.

Emily just nods.

Donnie's gaze drops to her leg. "Let's get you some pain killers," he says changing the subject.

"Donatello," says Splinter from the doorway. "Would now be a good time to ask for an explanation?"

"Actually," says Donnie, popping a few small, round pills into Emily's outstretched hand, "Now is a fine time. Although I think everyone might be more comfortable in a more open space."

"It's not that bad in here," says Raph. "What happened?"

Donnie looks at his brother, than at everyone else gathered in his lab. "Alright," he sighs. "We were at the graveyard, getting some fresh air…"

~*~

Donnie had recounted the events of that night, Emily filling in when Donnie no longer knew the details. Together, they told what had happened, from when Leo attacked, to when the tiger pounced. Emily failed to mention the part about her mother, or the deal that was made, but she told them about the drug.

"What's L-M10?" asks Mikey when Emily finishes.

Emily shrugs. "He told me to ask Donnie."

Donnie's rubbing his chin. "I wonder if it's related to L-T10?" he muses. When he notices everyone's blank looks, he explains, "It's an experimental drug that supposedly suppresses Multiple Personality Disorder. But its said to be very unstable, and it only worsened the condition of the patients."

"So what does L-M10 have to do with L-T10?" Casey asks.

"It's possible that some scientist in the project modified the formula, creating a new medicine. But instead of smothering a multiple personality, it created one."

"A strong one," Emily adds, "One that takes over completely."

Donnie nodded. "Yeah, and if what the studies say is true, L-T10 had to be administered on a very strict schedule; on the hour, every hour."

Emily's heart plummeted. "Than the scientist would have done away with that, and done everything they could to make L-M10 permanent."

"I know," Donnie says, "But no matter what they did to the original formula, the end result would still be horribly unstable. And if what the studies say is true," he repeats, "than there is a solution that can be created to wash out the drug."

"Can it really be that simple?" asks Mikey. "Just give him a shot and he'll be better?"

"Not quite so simple, I'm afraid," says Donnie. "I don't know how drastically the formula was changed, and then there's the fact that Annabel," he glances at Emily, "put him to sleep."

"But wasn't L-M10 created on the foundation of L-T10?" asks Emily, meeting his gaze. "Surely the base chemicals would be similar enough that it wouldn't matter if you altered the solution."

Donnie nods thoughtfully. "I suppose you have a point there. It's worth a try, anyway."

"But what do we do about the sleeping thing?" asks Mikey hesitantly.

"Nothing yet," says Donnie. "But maybe, with any luck, he'll wake up once we figure out how to get the drug out of his system. Now," he stands up. "Let's get your leg looked at, Emily."

Emily nods, having completely forgot about her leg.

"I think taking an x-ray would be the easiest way to see if it's broken or not," he says, rummaging around the lair.

"You have an x-ray machine?" asks Casey.

"Yeah, when Mikey was learning how to skateboard, he kept falling off and breaking something. It seemed practical to build one."

"Haven't had to use it in a while, though," Mikey says proudly.

Donnie smiles. Everyone's spirits seems to have been lifted in the last twenty minutes. "Okay guys," says Donnie know. "Why not give Emily some privacy? I'll tell you if Leo's condition changes, but I have a feeling nothing will for a while."

"Hang in there, 'k?" says Casey before he walks out.

"Come on, Raph," nudges Mikey, "Let's go finish our movie."

Raph rolls his eyes, but follows him out.

"I would like to thank you, Ms. Jones," says Splinter smiling. "You brought back my son."

Emily shrugs, but returns the smile. With that, the old rat walks out, with Emily and Donnie the only ones left in the lab.

"Okay," says Donnie when he hears Splinter's foot steps get farther and farther away. He pulls his chair so he's right in front of Emily, whose still sitting on the table. "We need to talk."

~*~


	25. Chapter TwentyFour

"Talk?" asks Emily uncertainly. "Talk about what?"

Donnie sighs. "I heard what that man had to say."

Emily goes very still. "Every thing?" when he nods, Emily starts sputtering, "But - but - you were unconscious! Leo made -"

"Calm down Emily," Donnie says, holding up a hand. "Just calm down."

"You won't stop me," she blurts suddenly. "You can't."

He considers the hard, determined look on the girl's face. He looks over at his brother, still lying limp. "You're right," he says, not looking away from Leo. "I won't stop you."

This takes her by surprise. "What?"

Donnie looks Emily in the eye. "You need to meet with that man again." He continues, ignoring the stunned look on her face. "I don't think he's an enemy."

"You've been wrong before," she says quietly.

"But I'm positive I'm right about this." He says. "And the sooner you do meet with him, the better."

"You realize I have to go alone," she says, softer than before.

Donnie nods. "Yes, I do." He looks away again, as if embarrassed or ashamed. "And I won't stop you. He gave us back Leo; we owe him a visit."

Emily looks down ay her knees. "I know. Thank you."

"Now," says Donnie, pulling something down from the shelf. "Let's get that leg looked at."

~*~

She doesn't know where she's going or where she is. She doesn't even know if this will work. But she has to give it a chance.

It's been only a handful of days since Leo attacked them in the graveyard. Since than Donnie made the medicine Leo needed. Leo, however, didn't wake up. Donnie was disappointed, but not surprised. He said that all it proved was that Leo was under whatever influence Annabel had put Casey under. He had also said that the chances were slim of him pulling out of it by himself, so they had to wait for when Annabel felt like paying them another visit.

Emily understood what that meant. She would have to ask for the girl to come with her after she met with her master.

They had decided on keeping her meeting a secret. Though they both hated lying to everyone, it seemed easiest. With no one knowing, no one would try to stop her. Donnie had agreed that she needed to meet with this man.

Donnie hadn't sent her out unprotected, of course. Emily held in her pocket her very own shell cell. She refused to wear a wire or a bug, so the cell would have to do. Donnie hadn't protested too much. He still held to his convictions that this man was a friend.

And that was how Emily found herself out in the cold one winter evening. She wasn't complaining. Emily had a feeling she'd be able to find the man. At least he'd be able to find her. He had before, after all.

Sure enough, a black, mangy cat crosses her path. It looks up into her face, than turns and starts walking away. Emily hesitates for a moment, than swiftly follows.

They walk for several blocks down the deserted streets. He leads her to an abandoned building and jumps through an open window on the ground floor.

Emily walks to the door. It's locked. She hears the lock click, and the young man swings the door open. He's smiling.

"I didn't actually think you'd come alone." He looks at a point somewhere behind Emily. "But I'm glad. How did you manage it though? I figured the turtles would be keeping you under their thumbs rather tightly."

"Donnie built a back way, so to speak. An extra passage in case their lair was ever attacked and they needed to make a getaway."

The man nods. "Very clever. I suppose you just told them you were off to bed early?"

"Something like that. Donnie's supposed to be telling them I'm worn out, and not to disturb me."

"So Donatello's in on this?" he asks.

"Is that a problem?" No expression crosses her features.

The young man's smile never waivers. "It's no problem at all. But enough small talk." He motions her to come inside. "We have some things to discuss."

She steps inside. The door closes.

~*~

Dear Readers -

I realize this chapter is short. I'm sorry. I also realize this is my first time writing an Author's Note, but that's only because I've never really had anything to say before. I do now though, so I might as well get to it.

I'm sorry my updates have been so scarce and far between lately. I could give you a whole list of excuses but really it all just boils down to the fact that real life got in the way (It does tend to happen sometimes). I'll try to update sooner from now on, but sadly, no promises.

Anyway, thank you for reading my story. Thank you for reviewing and a big thank you for being patient. The story doesn't have much longer to go.

Till next time - Killer Kueen


	26. Chapter TwentyFive

"I'm surprised you came so soon, Emily."

"Donnie thought it was necessary."

"Ah, Donatello." He walks to the far corner of the room. "He is a very smart man."

"You mean turtle," comes a high voice. Behind the man stands Annabel. "Hello Emily. Are you warm enough?"

Emily nods.

Annabel's gaze shifts downwards, towards the floor. She focuses on the boot that Emily wears on her leg: the plastic and the straps. "How's your leg? I told Master he needn't make you walk, I would have gone and fetched you myself."

"She still would've had to walk, Annabel." He turns and looks over his shoulder at Emily, who's standing, not sure as to what she should be doing. "How is your leg, though? You did seem to make it all right."

"It's fine," she says slowly. "Donnie thinks I sprained my knee and bruised everything else, but he's sure it's nothing too serious."

He nods, seemingly satisfied. "Now." He sits on the hard ground. "Down to business." He addresses Emily, "You can sit, or you can stand. Makes no difference to me. We're using this building just for the moment, so I'm afraid there are no proper furnishings."

Seeing Annabel already on the ground, cross legged next to her master, she slowly lowers herself to the floor.

"First things first: Did Donatello administer the drug to Leonardo?"

"Yes," Emily runs a hand through her hair. "But he hasn't woken up."

"It was strong," the child says, looking slightly abashed. "The sleep I put him under. He won't wake up unless I'm there to do it."

"That's what we thought."

Annabel's about to reply when the man cuts across her. "So i suppose you're wondering what it is that I want with you."

"Something like that."

"Well, it's rather simple really."

Much to Emily's annoyance, he doesn't comment further, so she asks, "And why is that?"

He smiles a wiry smile. "Because we want the same thing."

Emily raises an eyebrow. "Than what is it that I want?"

"Revenge." He says it so matter of fact, as if discussing what it was she wanted for Christmas.

Her brow constricts to one hard line. "I don't think so." she says. "I've already had someone suggest the possibility of that, and it's not an option."

Now it's the man's turn to raise an eyebrow. "And why is that?" He seems amused again.

"It's weak. An action born from anger and vengeance." She ran a hand through her hair again. "Yes, the Dream Sequence Project put me through a lot of pain. I would love nothing more than to rip them limb from limb for what they did to David and Rebecca."

"But?" the young man probes, laughter dancing in his eyes, making them glow.

"But it would cause more hurt than it would solve," she says, evenly. Defiantly. "There are too many people to think about."

The man looks impressed. "It seems I've underestimated you." He stands, and while rubbing his chin, begins to pace. "Than if it is not revenge that drives you, as it is with me, how about help? Just plain, simple help. Assistance, really. No strings attached."

Emily draws a blank expression on her face. "And why would you want help from me?"

"Because you possess the exact thing I need."

"What could that possibly be?"

He stops pacing. "There are things you have yet to discover." He looks at her closely, calculating. Slowly he sits back down. "I was admitted into the project only a couple of months before you. When Rebecca sprung you free, as I'm sure you already know, she went back."

"She got you out too?"

He nods. For the fist time in Emily's memory, he looks sad, almost remorseful. "She did save me."

A cold draft passes through the building. Emily pulls her coat tighter against her. "Aren't you cold?" she asks. She wants to change the subject; the look on his face unnerves her.

The man shakes his head. "No, no. I'm perfectly all right." He's wearing his usual outfit of black shorts and a bare chest.

"Now, where was I?" He looks up at the ceiling, as if the answer was painted there. "Ah, yes. As I've said before, I wasn't quite as lucky as you. What the doctors had done became permanent. Even if it hadn't, I wasn't willing to take the risk.

"Once I was out, Rebecca still didn't leave. It turned out to be a big mistake."

"He found out. The creator."

He nods. "Except it wasn't -" He stops talking abruptly.

Annabel picks up on something. "Master?" she asks, getting to her feet.

Her master pinches the bridge of his nose. "How could I have been so stupid?" he says barely audible. "Annabel, would you kindly take Emily home?" He looks at the girl, and she nods solemnly. "I'm so sorry, Emily, but it seems time is never on our side. Annabel will go with you and tell you everything you'd like to know. Now don't give me that look - she's very well informed."

He stands now, and offers a hand to the young girl still sitting on the hard ground.

"We'll meet again," he says, now shaking the hand he still grasps. "Don't you worry about that."

Just as Emily opens her mouth to say something, possibly a farewell, or a thank you, she hears the door creak open, and sees Annabel waving her over.

"Goodbye, Master," the child says, her gray eyes meeting those of the man's.

He nods. "Keep safe."

She offers on last desperate look to the man before her. She closes the door and than disappears into the night.

The man draws a breath. Let's it loose.

"Keep safe."

~*~

They're walking swiftly through the crisp air. They haven't been walking long. Mere minutes, perhaps. Annabel has insisted on taking an indirect route back to the lair.

"Master told me to lead you home," she had said. "That's what I intend to do." She wouldn't let Emily go to the sewers, or on the rooftops. So they walked the streets, seemingly taking their time getting home.

"Are you going to tell me everything I want to know?" Emily asks finally.

"That would depend on if you ask the right questions."

"And if I don't?"

"Well, than I can't tell you everything, now can I?" she snaps. Her manor has changed. Where is the cheer, the ever-present optimism, Emily thought. Who is this girl before me?

What she said was, "Than how about you just tell me everything you know period, so I don't make that mistake."

The girl stops walking. She had been leading at a brisk pace, but now she pauses. She bows her head in defeat.

"And what do you want to know? You'll still have to ask questions, you silly girl." Her voice is higher than usual, and she still doesn't turn around.

"What happened to Rebecca? What really happened?"

"They found out what she had done." She sighs. "Instead of putting her through what we went through, she was just put under L-M10. She was told to find you. It took awhile."

"Yeah it did." She walks up to the girl and puts her arm around her. Annabel looks up into Emily's soft blue eyes. At Emily's persistence, they continue walking.

"It was him," Annabel says after a dozen steps. "It was Master who saved you that night."

This time Emily stops. "What?"

"Remember the broken window and the person who had broken it? The night Rebecca came. Don't you remember? He saved you from her." She says it all very fast. Her face is pleading.

"I remember," Emily says quietly.

"David died, he told me, begging him to take care of you. You were out cold, but -"

"Stop." Emily's voice was quiet, but it had a certain strength behind it. "Please, just stop."

"Master called Helen," the child said after a slight pause. "Told her everything. She came home, called the police. Made up a story about a robbery. She was a very strong lady. Master liked that."

She looks down. As if on instinct, she wraps her arms around Emily's waist and buries her face in her stomach. "Helen contacted him when she sent you here." says her somewhat muffled voice. "She had this feeling that somebody was following you. She was afraid the people from the project had come back, so she sent you to Casey Jones. Master followed." She withdraws herself. "He really did like your mother. She was so strong. So smart.

Emily brushes the girl's hair out of her face. "She was." She turned to look at the sky. She couldn't see the stars. She couldn't see the moon. "You have a lot to tell me. But for right now, let's go home."

The child nods. Her white-blond hair glows in the dark. Who needs the moon when they had that? "Let's go wake up Leonardo."

~*~


	27. Chapter TwentySix

They continue walking through the streets. Emily pulls her coat tighter against her. How can she still be so cold?

"The manhole we want is up ahead," she says to Annabel. When the child nods, Emily stops. Snow has begun to fall silently. "I never found out his name." She turns to look back behind her. "Why did I never ask him his name?"

"We shouldn't stop, Emily," Annabel's voice is horse. "We've stopped enough tonight."

She nods absentmindedly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." A sudden thought comes to her then. "Why do you always call him 'Master?'"

Annabel looks up at her. She gives Emily's arm a tug. "I'll tell on the way. We're almost there."

"Well?" Emily asks after they start walking. "There has to be a reason."

The girl is quiet for a moment. "He doesn't like it when I called him that." She smiles a soft, sad smile. "He didn't have a choice, though. He is my master." Her grey eyes flash in the night air.

"I was in the program too, as you know. But I was administered after you and Master left. My parents had died in a car accident, and I was brought there, instead of to the foster family I was supposed to go to. You were long gone. Master was gone, and Rebecca was gone. After you, I was the youngest one ever injected, from what he says."

"Did he get you out?"

"Yeah, he did." Annabel is looking straight ahead, and she nods vaguely as she speaks. "He always said how hard it was. They were proud of me, those people, and of what I could do. I'm just like the Queen. You know, the one from the book."

Emily looks straight ahead. "I noticed that. You can mess with our dreams."

"Uh-huh. That's what I did to Casey, and Leonardo. I trapped them in dreams." She stole a glance at Emily through her lashes. "I can do anything. I can put you in such a deep sleep, you won't ever wake up. I can make the dreams bad, too. Horrible nightmares."

Emily nodded. That was quite the power the child possessed.

"So he rescued you from the program." It wasn't a question. "How?"

"It hurt. That's what I remember most about that place. I never found out how he knew I was in there, but somehow he did. Master must have just been sniffing around one day." Annabel shook her head, making her silver-white hair fall over her face.

"He would sneak in sometimes, and play with me on the floor. He'd turn into different animals and make me laugh. That's how I found out he hurt, too.

"He said he couldn't take me away immediately. But that was okay, because he promised he would take me away soon enough." She takes a deep breath. The pair had reached the sewer. Emily moves the manhole aside and helps her enter the tunnel.

"So he visited you while you were in the program?"

"Yeah." They were underneath the city by now, walking through the sewers. It was colder down there, much to Emily's displeasure.

"What happened after he took you away?"

"I was afraid he'd leave me." Annabel spoke the words so softly, Emily wasn't sure they were actually spoken. "My parents were gone. I had no other family. I was afraid he'd leave me."

"So what happened? He obviously didn't get rid of you."

"I told him I'd do anything he asked of me. Turns out it really wasn't necessary. He never intended on leaving me behind. He needed my gift, it turns out." Their footsteps vibrated off the closed walls "I was happy to help, of course. He told me everything, every secret…" Annabel trailed off, and a light blush painted her cheeks. "He's been my master ever since."

Emily exhaled slowly. "It's a relief to know he's on our side. at the very least, we share a common enemy."

Annabel nodded so animatedly, her silver hair bounced up and down. They walked the rest of the way to the lair in silence.

~*~

Dear Readers,

I wonder who's still subscribed to this story? It's been so long since I've posted a chapter. I know it wasn't a very exciting one, either, and looking back on the previous one, that one wasn't much.

I'm sorry to everyone who kept up with the story. I wish I had been keeping up. I also wish I could say I had everything written and wrapped up, so now all I had to do was post it. Sadly, it didn't quite work out that way. But worse things have happened right?

Hopefully I can still end this story on a high note. Hopefully it won't completely fizzle out…

Anyway, thanks for reading. I don't think I've said it before (I can't believe I haven't said it before), but thanks to everyone who's commented/subscribed. It's been encouraging.

As I've said before, this story doesn't have much longer to go (and I think I mean it this time!)

- Killer Kueen


	28. Chapter TwentySeven

They were arguing over the remote. The remote, of all things. Raph wanted to watch wrestling, and Mikey…well, who knew what he wanted? He probably just wanted to annoy his brother by watching some Princess show, or the one about ponies, if he could find it.

Moral had been raised considerably since they brought Leo home. To Raph and Mikey, it wasn't a matter of "if he wakes up," it was "when." As soon as he did, he'd tell them everything he knew, and then a plan would be formed and they'd kick the Dream Sequence in the butt, just like always.

All they had to do was wait. And fight over the clicker, apparently.

"Give it here, Mikey. I'm not watching some girly crap on my night off." Growled Raph through gritted teeth.

"Guess you shouldn't have taken the night off than, huh?" sings Mikey, dancing out of reach of Raph's wild swings. "Besides, I find these shows rather empowering. Do you think Master Splinter would let me get a pony?" He smiles a wicked grin, taunting his brother.

Mikey is facing the door to the lair, so he notices first that is opens. He was too busy trying to see who was suddenly coming to pay them a visit to notice that Raph lunged for the middle of his shell. Raph, not anticipating his attack would go unblocked, overshoots it, and they both end up on the floor in a heap. The remote flies from Mikey's hand and skids across the floor to rest underneath the couch.

While Mikey is busy lamenting the loss of the clicker, Raph gets to his feet, facing the door. In the doorway stood Emily and the white-haired girl. "Emily!" Raph yells. "Get away from her!" He's about to charge forward, when the girl steps forward and bows to him.

"We meet again, Raphael," she spoke to the floor.

Raph pauses, not sure how to continue. His gaze flickers to Emily for any indication that this child is dangerous. None comes.

"What's going on in here?" Donnie walks into the living room to inspect the sudden noise. "Oh –" he looks surprised, but pleasantly so. "Annabel," he finds Emily in the doorway. "I was getting worried."

"You knew she was gone?" asked Raph, putting two-and-two together.

Donnie looked uneasy. "It's hard to explain. Besides," he continues as Raph sighs loudly, "she's back now, and she brought Annabel, who can wake up Leo."

Raph eyes the girl suspiciously, as if wondering if this is a good idea. She's intently studying the floor, looking embarrassed. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Well, she woke up Casey, didn't she?"

"Only after putting him to sleep." Raph grumbled half-heartedly. He wanted Leo to wake up just as much as anybody.

"Then it's a agreed. If you'll come this way, Annabel."

Mikey looked at Emily, who had been keeping her distance. "Are you coming?"

"No, no. I think I'll step this one out," Emily smiles nervously.

Mikey nods. Without another glance back, he follows Raph, who was making his way to the lab.

She's nervous, and feels out of place. She doesn't like the feeling. Emily looks around the lair, and sees Casey knocked out on the sofa. She walks over, picks up a beaten, sad looking pillow, and hits her uncle square in the face.

Casey snorted and blinked a few times before stirring. He looked sleepy eyed at Emily.

"Good morning' kid."

Not even bothering to tell him it was still the middle of the night, she says, "I expected more of a jump."

"Please," Casey yawns and sits up. "With Mikey pile-driving you if you sleep too long, you get used to the surprises." He eyes the pillow in her hand. "A preferred weapon of his, as a matter of fact."

Emily smiles. She flops down on the couch beside him. "Hey, Casey?"

He yawns again. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk."

"'Bout what?"

She doesn't say anything for a moment. "Well, about David, and Helen…and us."

He pivots his body so he's facing her. "Okay," he says hesitantly. "What about them?"

There's a longer pause before she answers now. "You should know my parent's names were Isabel and John Wilson."

She looks into his warm, dark brown eyes. Obvious confusion shows on his face. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, you deserve the truth."

~*~

Annabel followed Donnie into the lab, where Leo was sleeping. He was on the table, and he was hooked to machines that checked his blood pressure, his heart rate, his body temperature. "Are all these wires really necessary?" Annabel asks him.

"No, probably not, but I wanted to be safe."

She nods, and watches as Raph files into the room, shortly followed by Mikey. "Are you going to get your father?" She asks.

"There is no need," Splinter says from the doorway. No one's surprised to see him there. "Now, Annabel," his eyes crinkle in a friendly smile. "will you please wake up my son?"

The girl nods. She walks over to the still body of the turtle, and places one hand over his heart and one hand over his eyes. Images of a home, of brothers and fathers, and the city at midnight pour into her mind. She's relieved; she was afraid there would be something horrendous playing before his eyelids.

Regardless, she takes a deep breath, and applies just enough pressure to wake Leonardo up at last.

~*~


	29. Chapter TwentyEight

Leo's eyelids fluttered. The dream he was in had suddenly stopped, and he could now hear a slow beeping. It reminded him of a hospital, of the heart rate monitors they hooked up to people. He could also hear anxious breathing, and the presence of someone standing over him.

Opening his eyes, he saw a silver-haired child with deep, grey eyes standing over him. She blinked. A smile was creeping onto her face. "Welcome back," she whispered.

"Annabel," he said without thinking. That was the child's name, wasn't it? Annabel?

"Leonardo," said a voice from the doorway. Turning, he saw Splinter, looking even happier than the girl.

"Father," Leo said in acknowledgement. Master Splinter walked over and hugged his son. Leo's eyes wander over the crowded room and come to rest on Donatello. Though he looked better than he had the night Leo was recovered, he was still littered with nasty bruising. "I'm sorry Donnie," Leo whispers. "I didn't mean to cause so much damage."

Donnie looks surprised. For a moment, he doesn't say anything, but Leo looks so remorseful, so apologetic. "Don't worry about it, bro. I've been through worse."

Annabel had taken a few steps back to get out of Splinter's way. Raph reaches over and puts his hand on her head. "Thanks, kid," he says. She looks up at him and nods. Her job completed, she inches out of the room.

The only one looking uncomfortable is Mikey. "Uhm, Donnie?" he whispers loudly. "What's wrong with Leo?"

Donnie looks at his younger brother. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he shuffles awkwardly. "it's just…" He trails off, looking at Donnie helplessly. His eyes dart to Leo, who looks confused.

"I get it," says Raph, when Donnie still doesn't understand. "It's the eyes, Donnie. Leo's eyes are the wrong color."

Everyone turned to look at Leo. "Oh," Donnie rubs the back of his neck, smiling as he does so. "Is that all it is?"

Mikey is incredulous. _"'Is that all'?"_ He stares unbelieving at his brothers. Donnie is still smiling, and Raph just rolls his eyes. "It's weird."

"What's wrong with my eyes?" Leo asks.

Donnie looks around his lab, looking for a hand mirror. He finds one amidst the clutter, and hands it to his brother.

Leo's eye ridge rises as he studies his reflection. "You can still see, right?" Mikey asks. He's persistent. "I mean, you're not color blind?"

Leo's still staring into the mirror. "No, I can see just fine," he reassures him. "I have to admit, it is quite alarming though." His eyes had once been a creamy, chocolate color. Now, they were void of all color, just a tasteless grey.

"I expected it, honestly," says Donnie quietly. "It does make sense, when you think about it." Raph nods his agreement. "The girl – Annabel – her eyes are that exact shade of grey. I would bet anything the man's eyes look like that, too."

Mikey shook his head. "It's weird."

Raph smacks him on the back of his head. "Just be grateful he's awake."

"Does this mean the program was experimenting on Leonardo?" asks Splinter quietly.

"No, I don't think it does," Donnie was looking at his father thoughtfully. "If that were the case, Emily would surely have grey eyes too, but she doesn't. Her eyes are blue." He looks at his brother, who is still lying down, and says, "I think it only means that Annabel and her master were given L-M10, as Leo was."

Leo frowned. "It's not a very pleasant experience."

Donnie smiled sadly. "No, I don't expect it is." he walks over to his brother and disconnects him from all the monitors. "I'd suggest you get some rest, but I think you've had enough of that to last for awhile."

Leo smiles too, finally home.

~*~

Annabel came into the living room to see Emily and Casey talking quietly together. Curious, she walks out sits down on the floor in front of the couch. Emily was doing most of the talking. Casey just looked surprised.

"I didn't mean to deceive you, honestly, I didn't," her face is flushed, and she kept brushing her curly hair out of her face. "its just, I didn't really think it was such a big deal, since I was adopted. And, well, I didn't expect any of this to happen, so I thought that it wouldn't be a problem if I never told you." Emily says all of this very quickly, obviously worried about how Casey would take all this.

After a short pause (which probably didn't do a thing for Emily's nerves) Casey says, "So your birth mother is alive?" She nods. "Is there a chance she'll want you back?"

Emily blinks. "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not." Was he telling her he didn't want her?

The man frowns. "Hmm." He leans back into the couch, thinking.

"Casey?" She asks, looking worried.

He looks over at her, and smiles. "Hey, Em, don't look so worried. I'm not gonna send you away." He puts his arm around her shoulder. "David loved you. That's good enough for me."

Emily sinks into him. "Yeah," she whispers. She should have known better for worrying.

"I just want to make sure this mother of yours is nicer than Helen."

Emily smiles. "Helen was nice. She just didn't like you."

"Right, well let's hope Isabel does."

"I wouldn't count on that." They both jump. Mikey had come out as well, and was now standing next to Annabel.

"What do you mean?" asks Emily.

Mikey sighs, and looks back to where his brothers and father were. "Well, Leo has news." He looked carefully at Emily. "Bad news."

"Oh."

"He wants to tell you personally." Mikey now looks at the girl beside him. "And he needs Annabel to explain the things he doesn't understand."

Casey nods. "We'll be right there." He and Emily stand up and follow Mikey into the lab.

Annabel bounces up beside them. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones," she says finally able to apologize for the trouble she had caused. "It's just that you were in the way."

"Annabel," Emily scolds.

"What? He was."

The corner of Casey's mouth twitch. "It's alright, kid. I forgive you. And call me Casey," he adds as an afterthought.

She nods, and leads the way into the lab.

"Leo," Emily smiles the minute she sees him. She runs over and gives him a big hug. "It's good to see you're finally awake."

"And it's good to see you're alright," he smiles too, relieved. "I'm sorry about scaring you." He looks down. "I'm sorry about David's headstone, too."

Not expecting an apology quite like that, Emily shrugs. "It's fine, Leo. Don't worry about it." A thought comes to her suddenly. "Wait – you remember breaking the headstone?"

Leo nods. "I remember everything. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He grows business-like, wanting to waste no time. "I've already told some of it to my brothers. I figured you should hear it too.

"Of course," said Emily, breathless.

"You might as well start with the night you were taken," says Raph from the corner. "No point confusing us too soon."

Leo nods. "As you know, I went looking for you, to bring you back after you left when you found out about the doctor's death. We all knew where you would go, so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find you.

"I made it to the graveyard gates when I could feel a presence behind me. I turned, and while I couldn't see clearly, I could make out a silhouette.

I opened my mouth, to say what, I'm not sure, when I felt someone else behind me." Here Leo pauses. "I'm not sure what happened next," he said hesitantly. "All I know is someone jabbed me from behind, and I was on the ground, conscience, but paralyzed."

"Was it a drug?" Casey asked. "Maybe it was a shot."

"It probably wasn't," Emily interrupts, "I mean, it was the Dream Sequence who took him. It was probably a power someone had."

Leo nods. "Exactly. The two stood over me for a moment, when one of them told the other to take me back to the base."

"The base?" says Emily. "You mean the hospital?"

Leo shrugs. "Were they took me sure didn't look like a hospital to me. But anyway, he told the first unknown to take me away, while he would get you."

Emily nods. So she was the intended target that night. Like that was a surprise.

"As you can imagine, I got a little worried. We're supposed to keep you safe, after all. But from the corner of my eye, I saw yellow eyes glaring at us in the darkness. They grew closer, and I could make out a cat. I recognized him as the one that had caused you so much trouble, Emily."

"You mean Master?" asks Annabel, stunned. "I didn't know he was there that night."

Leo nods. "He came out of nowhere and turned into a dog. It was a Doberman, I believe. Real mean, too. Attacked whomever it was that was giving the orders. Sure gave me a shock." He closes his eyes, remembering. "The dog attacked, and the man fell down. He wasn't too happy, but he wasn't very surprised, either. He yelled to the other guy that was there to take me away."

"So he did," says Emily softly.

"So he did," agrees Leo. "He reached out and placed his hand on my chest. I felt a warm sensation, like he had just poured hot water on me. Before I knew it, we were inside a building. That's when I saw that the person standing over me was really a woman. She had straight red hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and a long nose. Her eyes were gray and vacant."

"That was Ashley," Annabel says quietly. "She can teleport."

"As soon as she got me there, she let go and disappeared. A moment later, she reappeared, but with a man. He wasn't very tall, had a buzz cut, and he didn't look happy. His leg was bleeding. When he looked at me, I saw he had green eyes."

"And that's Jackson," Annabel says. "They're a team, sort of."

"How come he didn't have grey eyes, too?" asks Donnie looking from Annabel to Leo.

"Because he didn't need to be controlled," said the child quickly. "He was always willing to follow any orders given, even though he would much rather be the one giving them."

Leo nods. "He told the women – Ashley, you said? – to take me to the boss. He said that even if that renegade punk had stopped them from getting to Emily, they could at least give me to the boss, to make up for it.

"When she didn't move, he yelled at her to go get her."

"Wait," said Emily. "You said the boss was a women?"

"Yeah," said Leo. "When she came back, with the boss right behind her, I got a good look at her face when she leaned down to inspect me."

Emily suddenly had a very ominous feeling. "And who was it?"

"It was your mother, Isabel."

~*~


	30. Chapter TwentyNine

There are no feelings. There are no thoughts.

Just, nothing.

Nothingness so intense, it's almost like sleeping. Like dreaming. A waking nightmare. But there is no waking. There is no thought.

Just a silky voice mumbling in his ear, telling him that he can do better. That he should stop resisting.

He would stop breathing if it was commanded of him. He is nothing. He is no one. All he is, is a whisper, a rumor that can't be chased.

...

He sees It. He sees Its shell, and Its green, scaly skin. It wears a headband and pads. He sees Its weapons, too. From a distance they look like plastic, not even capable of hurting an ant.

He can see her, as well. The Dream Maker. She's leading It down the street. Her silver hair glimmers in the minimal glow the streetlights offer. He doesn't know where she's leading It, but bloodlust stirs in the pit of his stomach.

He needs to do away with the thing in the street. His master tried controlling them once, tried reining them in, but she failed. He needs to get rid of It.

The shadows engulf him in their embrace, making him invisible. Not even his breath can be seen in the bitter night air.

His hands are growing cold. His fingernails feel as if they're splintering. He raises his hand, then swiftly flings it toward the creature in the still street. Ice sickles spray out from underneath his skin. He doesn't register the pain, nor the blood. How can he feel such things when he doesn't exist?

A throwing star blocks the attack. Only one sickle makes it past, and that one is easily deflected by the thing, his sai glinting, suddenly aware of his presence.

No matter. He is made of shadows. He is made of nothing and he will not fail. He will bring back the Daughter, and the Dream Maker. He will kill It. Kill them all.

But his position is compromised, and he needs to move. He trails the darkness, looking for a weak spit in Its stance. There is none. He's also trying to find the thrower of the star. The beast brought a friend, and it troubles him that he can't seem to find where he is hiding.

The creature is at the ready, prepared for any attack it might receive. The Dream Maker is standing very still in the street. She is trying to find him. She knows how to become invisible too. That makes her a threat. He can't afford such a thing.

He attacks again, aiming for her. Her ability is useless in anything but hand-to-hand combat. Only what she knows makes her a threat.

The ice is again turned aside. There is no throwing star, just the bulky creature with the sais, protecting the child. It has fast reflexes. Pesky.

Too late, he feels another presence behind him, too late he feels the sharp sting of a needle.

_But I can't feel._ A thought. A dangerous thought.

He realizes there are two things behind him, beside him.

_They are made of shadows too,_ he thinks, before he succumbs.

...

Okay, I know it's short. I know it's confusing (although I really hope it isn't). I just needed to post something to let the few people still following this story that I haven't quite given up yet. Hopefully a new chapter will be up soon, one that is longer and actually has a point to it.

I'm in the process of editing this story, and hopefully that will be enough to get me motivated to actually finish it.

Thanks for reading, and reviewing. "Till next time (which won't be far off) ~*


	31. Chapter Thirty

After following the rest of his body, his head hits the pavement with a smack. Donnie winces. He had hoped to do this with minimal damage. The least amount of damage this man took, the more likely he was to trust them. Hopefully, the opinion of the project being "bad" was a unanimous one. That would definitely help too.

Annabel runs to where the body dropped, Raph not far behind her.

"So, Donnie?" he asks. "Did it work?"

"I think Leo would be the expert on this one," he looks over to his brother, who is looking at the man intently.

"His name is Jefferson, I believe," Leo murmurs. "Obviously, his abilities are water related."

Jefferson had light hair, straight and long around his ears. He looked to be in his late twenties. His right hand, particularly his nails, was encased in frost.

"Think Michelangelo's okay?" Annabel asks, looking around the empty street. "The ice looked sharp."

"It wasn't sharp," says a voice over their heads. "It was pointy. Besides," Mikey jumps down from the street light he was hanging off of. "I wasn't anywhere near the attack. I just saved Raph's shell from a distance."

"What are you? Some sort of primate?" Raph says, annoyed.

"Quiet, you two," Donnie shushes them. He nods to Leo, who is trying to stir the unconscious figure.

"Jefferson," Leo lightly slaps the side of his face. "Jefferson."

His eyes flicker. Instinctively, Raph grips his sais. Mikey tenses, ready for a fight.

Suddenly, his eyes fly open, but he remains on the ground, keeping very still. His breathing is uneven, and it's obvious he's trying to keep it under control. The remaining frost on his fingers melts to water.

"Does he think we can't see him?" Mikey whispers loudly to Donnie. Annabel suppresses a giggle.

"I'm trying to figure out why I'm the one lying on the ground," he says softly. "Instead of you." He swallows, coughs. How long had it been since he's spoken? "I don't understand." Jefferson sits up, his hand rubbing the side of his face. His gray eyes, void of color, find Leo's. "What the hell did you do to me?" he asks in a cracked voice.

Leo smiles, relieved. "So you're still in there, huh?"

The man blinks. He slowly pulls himself to his feet. "Yes," he says carefully. "I think I am."

"Oh, man," Mikey's gaze is drawn to the blood on his hands.

Following his gaze, the man inspects his fingernails. "I've had worse. I only fired off a couple shots, after all."

"You did that to yourself?" Mikey asks, confused.

"The skin splits. Its the only way I can create an attack like that," he rubs him hands together, like someone would to shake off the cold. "In the beginning, the doctors were sure I wouldn't be able to produce fingernails ever again. But the human body, you know," he shrugs. "It's made to adapt."

"You remember the beginning?" Donnie asks.

"Of course I remember. I don't think I'll ever forget." the man looks down at his hands, still entwined. "I wish I could forget."

"I'm so sor-"

"Is Emily safe?" Jefferson asks, interrupting Donnie before he can apologize. The message is clear: he didn't want their pity. "Isabelle is getting desperate, especially since you slipped through her fingers, Leonardo." He rubs his hands again. "She doesn't realize you're no longer in her control."

"So she thinks Leo is stuck in la-la land?" Raph asks.

"Yes," Jefferson answers after a pause.

Donnie considers this. "That could definitely work in our favor. She does know about Annabel, though, right?"

"She's known about her for quite some time. She just doesn't understand how. I don't understand how." He looks from Leo to Donnie imploringly.

"What about Derek?" Donnie asks instead of explaining.

"Of course she knows about Derek," Jefferson snaps. "It's hard not to when he's the one causing all this trouble."

"Derek? Who's he?" Mikey looks from Donnie to Jefferson.

"Emily's brother," Leo answers. He looks at Donnie. "I didn't realize you knew about him."

Donnie nods. "I wondered why you didn't bring him up when you awoke."

"I didn't think it mattered. It would just be something else eating away at Emily, is all. Something else she couldn't do anything about."

"Not necessarily."

"He's probably hiding, somewhere." Annabel mentions. "Master sent Emily and me away, when they met."

"Wait, wait," Mikey holds up his hands. "Are you saying that Derek is the cat-guy? The one Leo attacked in the graveyard?"

Annabel smiled proudly. "The one and only. Feisty, isn't he?"

"He's captured," Jefferson says quietly.

The child's face fell almost immediately. "What?" she asks in a whisper.

"That night at the abandoned building. Isabelle sent out scouts, thinking Derek would try contacting Emily again. When he did, we followed them to the building. It was going to be an ambush, but Derek must have caught our scent." He pauses when he sees Annabel's face. She's trying amiably to keep tears from falling, but she's failing miserably.

"Master has heightened senses, being a shifter." she says sniffling softly.

"Derek got you and Emily out in time, Annabel," Jefferson makes an awkward motion, like he's going to reach out and touch her shoulder. He decides not to, however. His arms remain stiffly at his side.

"Hold up," Mikey says, the only one confused with what's going on. "If the cat-man is Derek, and Derek is Emily's brother, then that makes him Isabelle's son, yes?"

"What's your point, Mikey?" Raph asks.

"Well, I mean, is it really a bad thing that he was, er, reunited with his mother?"

"It's a bad thing!" Annabel yells at him, her voice shrill. "He's the one trying the hardest to topple her, to destroy the Dream Sequence!" She rubs her eyes with her fists. "It doesn't matter to her that they're related. She wants him stopped." Her small shoulders begin to shake, and she tries desperately to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Then why does she want Emily so badly?" Donnie muses out loud as Mikey places a comforting hand on Annabel's shoulder.

Jefferson stiffens. He the blood drains from his face and his eyes fly to the ends of the street. Leo tenses, too.

"Perhaps it would be best to continue this conversation somewhere safe," Jefferson whispers, eyes still moving wildly.

"Yes, I believe you're right," Leo agrees. He lays a hand on Annabel's other shoulder. "Let's go home. We'll figure out what to do there."

...

She sits ringing her hands on the old sagging couch.

"They're going to be alright, Em," Casey says from behind her. "There's strength in numbers, after all."

"I'm not worried about them," Emily admits, turning to face him. "It's driving me crazy, is all, not knowing what's happening. Besides, Annabel isn't much of a fighter."

Casey smiles. "Well, if they are able to catch someone, we won't have to worry about that."

"Remind me again," she says hopelessly, "why they felt the need to go out in the first place."

"They needed to be sure the cure worked, Em, you know that." When she sighs, Casey says, "If we're going up against a sadist like Isabelle, we need to be prepared."

Emily smiles stifly, turning back around. "Was I the only one who was surprised by that?"

Casey plops himself down next to her. "Well, I didn't really see it coming, but I can't say I was surprised."

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense."

"You don't have to sound like such a martyr, you know," he teases, nudging her with his shoulder.

The tightness painted on her face relaxes. "What can you expect, Casey? I just want all of this to go away."

"Hey now, no whining here."

"Casey, how do they even know that there is someone from the project out there?"

"They don't. This is only the third time they've gone out-" Emily snorts indignantly. "-but one of them has to turn up sooner or later. There's no way that women is going to give up looking for you."

Emily sighs again, but whatever retort she had goes unsaid, because the door to the lair has just opened. Annabel bursts in, fat tears rolling down her face.

"Annabel, what's wrong?"

Jefferson had been surprised to find that Emily had little knowledge of her brother. Everyone was agreed, however, that the fact that Derek and Annabel's master were the same person should be kept a secret, at least for a little while longer.

"She's taken him," Annabel sobbed now, running into Emily's arms. "She's taken my master."

Emily looks up, a question on her eyes, when she sees the man standing a little behind Leo. She recognizes the gray of his eyes. "So then Leo wasn't a fluke," relief evident on her face.

"No," the man agrees. He steps forward. "My name is Jefferson. It's good to see you're still safe, Emily." He awkwardly extends his hand.

She takes it, makes a face. "Your hand is freezing."

He smiles. "Yes, I suppose it is."

...

To anyone who cares to read:

So I got another chapter posted. Woot. Finally moving the plot along.

Thanks so much for reading, and for sticking with me.

Until next time ~*


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